


Coup d'État

by Eline (Sans_Souci)



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Character Interpretation, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Backstory, Childhood, Children, F/F, F/M, Gen, Human Experimentation, Imperialism, Kink Meme, M/M, Military Background, Multi, Other, Politics, Racism, Science Experiments, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-12-05
Updated: 2013-11-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 20:59:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 52,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sans_Souci/pseuds/Eline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lengthy AU in which an exiled prince aids his childhood friend in the taking of an Empire. They actually succeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Usurpers

**Author's Note:**

> From the ever-so-lovely kink-meme, a request for thronesex (*the* kink in this fandom) between Emperor!Suzaku and Knight!Lelouch--which is, personally speaking, very interesting. Because I get to do the AU where Suzaku’s personality doesn’t split itself into a doormat and the douchebag version of his former arrogant and brash self. And is probably not crazy. (Probably. I don't know.) Lelouch doesn’t have the _Geass_ , some of the crazy-angsty R1 stuff did not happen and R2 just wasn’t the same. They are probably a few years older as well.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_October 2022 a.t.b._

The news reports flooded in one after another. People could hardly believe their ears.

The usurper had taken the capital. The usurper’s forces had outflanked and overwhelmed the Royal Guard, the militia and the naval forces. Even worse, some units in the army had defected.

There was outrage and some vocal protests by the native Britannians, naturally. From the assimilated peoples of the various colonies, there were tentative celebrations. Something was about to change.

But one fact remained--the usurper was Emperor by right of conquest. By their own rules, the strongest had prevailed.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_October 14th, 2022 a.t.b._

The throne room of the Imperial Palace was the centre of the Britannian Empire. Now it was empty except for two lone figures who were striding across the cavernous expanse of space to the Imperial Throne on its dais.

Kururugi Suzaku, formerly the Knight of Seven, looked up at the throne. Once, he had been a subject of a vast empire. Now, after a week or so of strategically-fought battles, he had won the war.

“Well go on, it’s yours now,” said the other man. Lelouch vi Britannia, his chief strategist, was not far from his side these few days. Clothed in severe black, he stood in stark contrast to Suzaku, who still wore his Knight’s whites.

“I can wait until the coronation . . . ” Though he was not particularly in favour of that local custom, Lelouch had convinced him of the necessity of showing the Britannians _symbolically_ that a new regime was in place.

“You should get used to it. The coronation might last five hours.” Here, Lelouch’s wickedly sardonic sense of humour was evident.

“Cut it down to half an hour--I know you can do it,” Suzaku said, but he did ascend the dais and lower himself onto the throne. Whatever magic that made the sitter an Emperor was not evident to him. It was merely an imposing chair.

"It suits you." His strategist had been a prince, eleventh in line for the throne of Britannia. The natural arrogance that was his by right did not overshadow his effectiveness as the mastermind behind the coup. Suzaku might be a warrior and a relatively good field marshal, but Lelouch thought in terms of _nations_ when he fought. 

Brilliant, the way a diamond was brilliant--hard edges, hidden facets and chilly logic. If Suzaku had never seen this prince in the throes of passion, he would have thought the other man was a statue carved in ice--a very attractive statue too. But he had the pleasure of having Lelouch in his bed and at his side in the war room--a most satisfactory arrangement all around.

"It's a bit too grandiose for my liking." The earlier teachings of his youth had stressed a certain austerity in how a warrior should live. Of course, he was an alien to these shores--something of an oddity in the inner circle of the Palace for all that he had been an Honorary Britannian for years.

"You could change it. Overhaul the entire Palace if you like." 

Lelouch had no love for the old regime. Ever since the assassination of his mother and the events that had blinded and crippled his sister, the eleventh prince had been out for vengeance. Suzaku supposed that this was his final, most humiliating blow to the system that had spurned him. Setting up a former Number as Emperor before dividing the conquered territories of the once world-spanning empire--a fitting end for a moribund dynasty whose final legacy had been colonialism and imperialism of all things.

Somewhat amused, Suzaku watched as Lelouch gestured animatedly about how they could have the entire place renovated to resemble the Taj Mahal, the Forbidden City and a Japanese castle fort all at once. The prince did not hate Britannia so much as he hated its policies and the man who had instituted them.

“Quit taking it out on the architecture--I’m sure it did nothing to deserve all that and you have other things to re-construct,” Suzaku said. His accomplice would be extremely busy when the restructuring of the former Holy Britannian Empire took place--fair penance for the one who had shattered it. “You can have the place torn down afterwards for all I care.”

“An Emperor needs a Palace,” Lelouch said, but he was obviously considering Suzaku’s suggestion.

“This Emperor needs people he can trust,” Suzaku corrected. “I believe no-one would guess my final choice for a knight.” That was another of the anarchic traditions Britannia had instituted, but it had some merit.

“I wouldn’t dare second-guess my Emperor,” Lelouch said with a show of false demureness.

“Oh come on . . .”

Lelouch put his head to one side. “Well, there are the original members of the Knight of Rounds . . . Bismarck--oh wait, you defeated him in the Battle of Florida. The Knight of Twelve--”

“Went down with your father’s flag ship.” Suzaku had been in the frontlines for most encounters, strategically targeting the strongest pilots in order to weaken support for the Royalists. That particular battle had been like walking into a firestorm, KMF notwithstanding.

“The Knight of Nine--”

“Who was regrettably killed in that skirmish with the Chinese Federation that you set in motion to prevent them from allying with Britannia.”

“The Knight of Four--”

“Eliminated in Cambodia by that uprising you engineered against the occupying forces.” It was good to call countries by their original names.

“The Knight of Ten--”

“Not so lamentably taken down by rebel forces during the Battle of Tokyo. Which was also your doing.” That had been one of the most regrettably destructive battles so far even though it had taken out a significant portion of the Britannian military overseas. He had avoided open warfare over inhabited areas to reduce civilian casualties as much as possible--that much Lelouch had promised the two princesses. But the situation had unfortunately escalated beyond the point where evacuation of civilians had been necessary.

“The Knights of Three and Six--”

“Eventually sided with your brother as you knew they would.”

“Oh dear, I seem to have taken half the candidates out of the running and you finished off the rest in battle.” Lelouch shrugged theatrically. “You’ll have to appoint someone else as your most elite warrior, I’m afraid.”

“I was thinking of appointing my head strategist to the post,” Suzaku said, playing along. “Able Knightmare Frame pilots are trainable, of course, but a cunning strategist is much harder to find. As are people I trust.”

“My head may swell and explode with all this flattery.”

“Well don’t--I need your head for other things, including the planned withdrawal of occupying forces from all the Areas,” Suzaku said. Former colonies. They were going to become former colonies.

“I live to serve.” Lelouch gave an ironic bow. 

He was the least servile man Suzaku had ever known. But this proud and fiercely independent creature had chosen to follow _him_. It was enough to make his blood heat.

“Serve, you say?”

“Well, for starters, there’s that wardrobe of yours. You’re still wearing your Knight’s uniform, for crying out loud.” Lelouch was also ever so good at playing coy. “As Emperor, you should wear something more fitting to your station--”

"I would rather wear you, naked and moaning my name."

"Oh? That would set an interesting fashion trend," Lelouch said archly. Verbal spars seldom fazed him. “There’s only one of me.”

"One-of-a-kind apparel--that sounds about right for an Emperor. Imagine how shocked everyone would be when they find out who you are."

Long thought to be dead, casualties of the annexation of Japan, Lelouch and his sister were still scions of the royal family. A disinherited and out of favour scion, the last time anyone bothered to check, but enough to throw any hardcore loyalists into confusion.

“It’s on your head if you want to be associated with my family,” Lelouch said casually. “But if was up to me, I’d avoid the spotlight as much as possible.”

The scars from his mother’s assassination had not faded and Lelouch’s greatest weapon so-far had been secrecy. “We can decide about all that later. Come here,” Suzaku said.

Lelouch stepped forward with a knowing smirk. “I would say that the throne is already getting to your head--”

Impatient now, Suzaku tugged his lover forward for a kiss. The events leading up to the coup had required weeks and months of separation--lost time Suzaku fully intended on recouping, starting from now. 

“I would display you proudly as my knight,” he said when they separated for a brief instant. “But if you don’t wish it, then I’ll keep your name and face a secret. You can be the Knight of Zero to the rest of the world.”

“So command me,” Lelouch said in a voice that was already husky with desire. His answer was another tug that pulled him right onto Suzaku’s lap.

Lelouch did moan as his mouth was thoroughly plundered. And he turned such a pretty shade of red when he was aroused.

“This comes off,” Suzaku said, pausing in his attentions to tug at Lelouch’s jacket. There was a little too much material between them for his liking.

Shrugging the garment off with negligent ease, Lelouch loosened his cravat and slipped it off. “Like this?”

“That’s better,” Suzaku said, redirecting his efforts to the soft skin of Lelouch’s throat. “This business of giving orders is getting easier.”

“Oh I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time,” Lelouch muttered, engaged as he was undoing Suzaku’s cloak fastenings and the front of his uniform while a pair of distracting hands wandered over his person. “You were insufferably arrogant as a child to begin with.”

“ _Insufferable_ , was I?” Suzaku nibbled at the lobe of Lelouch’s ear--just hard enough to make him shiver a little in anticipation. “I seem to recall it was a certain Britannian prince who was stubbornly refusing our hospitality. I thought you were terribly rude in addition to being a stuck-up prig.”

“You thought _I_ was priggish? Oh if only I had a recording of some of your little speeches,” Lelouch said, obviously amused. He pushed open the coat of Suzaku’s uniform to reveal the skintight flight suit underneath. “Anyhow, if we were, we wouldn’t be doing this right now, would we?”

“It beats explaining suspicious stains in the cockpit of my Knightmare Frame.” Suzaku grinned at that particular memory.

“Ugh, I remember that. All those gear-sticks and control-handles everywhere.” Lelouch made a face and shifted on Suzaku’s lap. “But I don’t think I’m sitting on a gear-stick right now . . .”

“But it was a spontaneous fit of passion,” Suzaku murmured, his hands slipping under the hem of Lelouch’s shirt.

“It was you on an adrenaline high after an aerial battle!” Lelouch was not so distracted that he could not spare the energy to glare at Suzaku.

“Bah--that’s so clinical. Could you be less analytical for a little while?”

The prince gave him a considering look. “Yes, Your Majesty.” 

And it was Suzaku’s turn to feel an almost indecent thrill coursing through him as Lelouch got off his lap to sink down between his knees. Those deft fingers ghosted along his inner thighs and undid the fly of his trousers. 

Lelouch took his own damned time to stroke Suzaku before licking his erection from base to tip. In a manner designed to prolong the act and infuriate the watcher, he teased the head of Suzaku’s cock delicately with his tongue until the other was practically squirming where he sat. 

Finally relenting, Lelouch deigned to suck on the already engorged head of Suzaku’s cock. It was almost a kind of exquisite torture as Lelouch took him in slowly, inch by sensual inch. But it was also just another aspect of their relationship--not a displeasing one to Suzaku’s mind. Holding himself back, he entertained himself with thoughts on how he would reciprocate this little act later.

Then Lelouch started hum gently around his cock. Oh--now that was playing dirty. Suzaku clenched his fists and tried not to whimper as the prince swallowed him in deeper.

“Enough,” Suzaku managed to say even as he pulled Lelouch up to kiss him. The prince gave as good as he got this time, their tongue twining together in a dance that they had grown accustomed to but never tired of.

“We should continue this in my room--”

“What happened to being spontaneous?” Lelouch asked and before Suzaku could say anything he had unfastened his trousers. 

Suppressing a groan at the sight of that much unclothed skin, Suzaku knew that he was not going to be able to restrain himself much longer. Fortunately for the both of them, he had come prepared. They were not a pair of fumbling teenagers anymore and Suzaku was damned if he would repeat that particular lesson again. 

“I see you had this all planned.” Lelouch raised an eyebrow at the small plastic squeeze-bottle Suzaku dug out from his pocket.

“Contingency plans are very important,” Suzaku agreed as he thumbed the cap off the bottle. And being almost skinned raw was painful.

“What? In case I decided to be spontaneous?” Lelouch asked. But he was quick to take the bottle and squeeze out a generous amount of lubricant.

“Generally speaking, that was the plan,” Suzaku said, hissing softly as Lelouch coated him with the cool gel. The prince ever so helpfully straddled his thighs, bringing him close enough so that Suzaku could slip a hand behind him.

“You never considered that with so many variables, it might not have worked?” Lelouch gasped as a greased finger worked its way between his buttocks and lightly circled his entrance.

“No, not really,” Suzaku said after a moment of pretended deliberation and pushed his finger past the ring of muscle that had tightened involuntarily when he had stroked it.

That distracted the prince enough to cut off whatever sardonic retort he had planned. Lelouch did moan when he added a second finger. Turnabout was fair play, Suzaku thought as he pumped his fingers in and out carefully, making sure to stimulate that sensitive gland. His efforts were rewarded amply by the sight of Lelouch writhing with every stroke.

“All right, you’ve made your point,” Lelouch said through gritted teeth. “Now--ahhh! Suzaku!”

“What point was I making?” Suzaku asked, having pressed down gently on that soft node a moment before.

“You know full well what I--” Lelouch paused and smirked down at him in a manner that boded ill for Suzaku, who barely managed to stop himself from squeaking as a slender hand reached down to grip his sac. 

“Oh don’t look so shocked. Now that I have you by the literal balls, negotiations can commence.”

“Your specialty, not mine,” Suzaku said, forgoing diplomacy for direct action as he removed his fingers and slid his hands down to cup Lelouch’s rear. He was really skinny, Suzaku thought distractedly as the prince evidently agreed to his terms and released him. 

Bracing himself on Suzaku’s shoulders, Lelouch positioned himself over his erection and started to ease himself down impatiently. 

Equally impatient but not willing to rush things, Suzaku watched as Lelouch moved, his aristocratic features scrunched up in concentration. It was easily one of his more endearing traits. Not many people had the privilege of knowing him well enough to see him as anything other than aloof and cold.

“Are you done staring like a stunned puppy?” Lelouch asked irritably. He was flushed and sweating lightly from holding that position. 

“For now,” Suzaku said, urging those slender thighs to part further so that he would have room to move. Lelouch could not do this all by himself, Suzaku knew as he started to thrust upwards into that tight channel.

Voicing his pleasure in no uncertain terms, Lelouch ground down at the same time his hips arched up. Despite the anticipation building up within him as he was enveloped in hot, willing flesh, Suzaku took care not to go too fast. Sometimes, he did not know his own strength and Lelouch seldom said anything even when it got overly rough.

It was like that sometimes. Suzaku supposed that this was another one of those times. It was not that he objected to what Lelouch found arousing. Just so long as he was not hurt--

“Suzaku,” Lelouch growled in his ear, three parts lust and one part princely impatience. “Don’t hold back!”

“I’m just drawing it out a little longer,” Suzaku said, feeling his impending orgasm inching closer as Lelouch squeezed him. “It’s not as though we get to do this every day. Thought I don’t think you mean to consecrate the throne before--”

“--Rhymes with,” Lelouch gasped out as Suzaku thrust upwards, sending something akin to a jolt of electricity up his spine. “Nnnggh, harder!”

Lelouch was especially vocal today. And the throne room had _fantastic_ acoustics to broadcast the fact that someone was getting royally screwed. 

“Suzaku!” Lelouch flung his head back, fingers clawing at the material of Suzaku’s flight suit as the former knight started to pump his erection.

Burying his own lustful cry in the flushed and reddened skin of Lelouch’s neck, Suzaku held his hips down as he thrust deep inside the prince, feeling the muscles spasm and tighten around his member abruptly as he climaxed. 

“Nmm . . . mmhh . . .” A little disorientated after that, Lelouch responded slowly to Suzaku’s kisses. Realising that Suzaku was still hard inside him, Lelouch started to move sluggishly. “Suzaku . . .”

The sight of those violet eyes glazed over with that aftermath of their desire and those kiss-swollen lips was more than enough to send Suzaku over the edge.

Lelouch’s arms were around him, cradling his head against his collarbone as Suzaku came with a shout.

Running his hands up and down Lelouch’s back as they both slumped bonelessly on the throne, Suzaku basked contentedly in the afterglow. If it had been up to him, they would have got to this part of the day much earlier, but even a ruler was constrained by the demands of his position. Such a shame that it was getting late and Lelouch was fatigued by the evening’s exertions. 

Lelouch was still panting--Suzaku was just breathing hard. His knight was no athlete and not a foot-soldier to be risked on the field. He served best in the capacity of a strategist. And if Suzaku had been the type to admit it, there was a kind of challenge in partnering this prince that he relished.

“If I did not have that power, the _Geass_ , would you have joined me?” he asked idly in the lull that followed.

Lelouch was silent for a moment. “Your power makes you a good fighter,” he said at last. “But if what I wanted was to back the horse with the largest armies or the most canny knight, I would have insinuated myself into the company of some viceroy or the Knight of One’s bed. Though it’s difficult to imagine Bismarck’s tastes running to--you can stop laughing now.”

For all the seriousness of his question, Suzaku had laughed out loud at the very idea of the most solidly loyal member of the Rounds being seduced by--actually, now that he thought about it, Lelouch could be extremely persuasive if he chose to be.

“So long as I don’t have to worry about you hopping into the beds of men old enough to be your father just because they have the _Geass_ ,” Suzaku said after the worst of his mirth had died away.

“As I was _saying_ ,” Lelouch said, glaring daggers his way. “I am not so fickle. You need someone to plan what to do after you’ve hacked the other side to shreds, muscle-for-brains.” 

At the mention of Lelouch’s childhood nickname for him, Suzaku had to smile. His first victory, he reflected, was when he had won this prince as a friend and later a lover. The most strategic battles were the ones that would, in the long run, win the war.

“And here we are now, _Buriki_ prince,” he said. “I bet I can still beat you at _Sugoroku_.”

“What? Where the hell did that come from?” Lelouch spluttered. “Anyhow, you’ve got infernally good luck--which wouldn’t help you in a game of chess, by the way.”

“Fortunately for me, we’re not playing chess,” Suzaku said, sitting upright. His movements caused Lelouch to shift as well and the prince gasped a little as Suzaku’s cock slipped out of him. “It’s about time for you to turn in.”

“S-still have a meeting to attend . . . The re-establishment of the foreign consulates--”

“At this time? Cancel it. Or do you want to explain why you’re limping into your meeting?”

“They might already know,” Lelouch said with a tired but wry smile. “We were not exactly very discrete about it.”

If any of his selected officials were still in the dark, they would know soon, Suzaku reflected. Palaces were terrible places to conduct affairs. If Lelouch had been any less of a genius as a tactician and strategist, he would have been accused of favoritism. Not that he cared, but it might have been problematic in the long-run. 

Suzaku played his final card. “Your sisters are going to accuse me of letting you work too hard and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“You’re too easily bullied,” Lelouch said, but he subsided and did not make too much of a fuss when Suzaku helped him dress. He could not really talk, being a devoted slave to Nunnally’s every whim. At Suzaku’s insistence, Lelouch allowed himself to be dragged back to his quarters.

Suzaku had deliberately chosen a set of rooms that did not originally house members of the royal family. The small suite he had commandeered was serviceable, easily defendable and afforded a certain degree of privacy for anyone coming to or leaving from it.

It also had its own ensuite bathroom, which Suzaku used to his advantage. Lelouch was ever so fond of long hot baths and if Suzaku happened to be in the same tub, he was usually too relaxed to object to it.

“Where is your witch?” Lelouch asked, looking around as though he expected the woman to pop up from behind the bathtub. 

“She’s her own person. I am not her keeper.” C.C. might be anywhere--she appeared as and when she chose these days. Although to be fair to Lelouch, she did like popping up abruptly to unsettle him. 

Lelouch and C.C. had a mostly cordial relationship--when they were not sniping at each other for the heck of it. Suzaku had no desire to be a scratching post for either of them when they had their particular moods and he let them be. Some allowances had to be made for the company he kept, no matter how strange it was.

When they were well on their way to turning into prunes and Lelouch looked like he was going to fall asleep right there and then in the tub, Suzaku got them both out of the water. Decadent as certain aspects of the Palace were to a soldier, the enormous fluffy towels were extremely welcome in the current season.

When he was not cantankerous and prickly as hell about his own independence, Lelouch was as lazy as a dozen cats on a warm window ledge. And he could fall sleep anywhere at the drop of a hat. Which was what he was doing while leaning against Suzaku.

Speaking of cats, Arthur--now the unofficial royal pet--was taking up twice his body length’s worth of space on Suzaku’s bed.

Having other plans for the space, Suzaku got up and shooed Arthur off the bed--succeeding mostly because the cat let himself be chased off. It would not do for anyone else to see him battling with his cat.

“You already have that contrary excuse of a witch, why in the world did you pick up a cat as well?” Lelouch asked as Arthur hopped up onto the nightstand and pretended to ignore them until he could stage another attack on Suzaku’s fingers.

“Well, a cat might look at a king, as you Britannians say,” Suzaku began as he pulled back the covers.

“Not like that they don’t,” Lelouch said, eyeing Arthur warily. The cat yawned at both of them and flipped himself over to wash the base of his tail. “This one looks like he wants to shred the king’s fingers.”

“Well, he does. Ignore him,” Suzaku said firmly, physically settling Lelouch in bed. “I need you up and about by nine tomorrow morning.”

Lelouch smiled. His penchant for sleeping in late drove Suzaku up the wall sometimes. “Is that an order?”

“If I made it an order, would you obey it?”

“As Your Majesty commands.” His tone was mildly mocking, but he closed his eyes obediently.

Suzaku had a few more things to settle before he could go to bed, but he took a moment to watch Lelouch in that unguarded moment. Asleep, the prince looked far more like the boy he once had been all those years ago. He was really getting nostalgic now--

“If you’re going to say something, speak up,” Suzaku said to the air. Behind him, the heavy drapes shifted ever so slightly. “You’ve had plenty of opportunity to object to this, you know?”

“Why would I object? It’s your business who you sleep with.” Golden-eyed and silent as a shadow, the witch slid off the window sill and walked up to the bed. “He might actually be a good balance for you. But don’t tell him I said that.”

“I won’t.” He turned to the woman, aware of her scrutiny and that of late, that enigmatic gaze encompassed them both. Suzaku knew--had known for almost two years now--that she had first considered the prince as a potential acceptor of the _Geass_ before she had literally stumbled upon him. “What is it now? Do you have news of any other _Geass_ users?”

“They’re in hiding--that much I can tell.” She was as unreadable as the day he had met her, but Suzaku liked to think that they had an understanding so long as their contract held. So long as his goals did not interfere with hers . . .

“And they can stay there.” Suzaku had only met one other who had been “gifted” by the witch. It made him leery of any other dealings with _Geass_ users. “Just as long as they’re not foolhardy enough to use--”

“ _You_ were always reluctant to use it,” she said. It was the one particular sticking point between them.

“If that Chinese madman was an example of what happens to an advanced case of usage, then my reluctance is justified,” Suzaku said firmly. “I am not that boy you found in the middle of a war zone.”

“No, you’re not,” C.C. agreed. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	2. Fragile Throne

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_October 23rd, 2022 a.t.b._

“--the situation remains stable. No sign of any more opposition forces, sir.” The reporting officer framed on the monitor was a member of the Ninth Battalion under the Knight of Seven’s command. Former Knight, now ruler by right of conquest.

“Continue to maintain a presence on the northern border. I’ll send in the Fifth Battalion to relieve you as soon as they can,” Suzaku said. “Your men did well, Alonzo.”

“Thank you sir!” Alonzo Vastrez saluted smartly and cut communications. To his subordinates, he was still their commanding officer. Suzaku preferred it for military matters. The war was not entirely over for all that they had taken the capital and most strategic outposts. Now came the far harder job of securing their borders and solidifying his hold on an empire that spanned a third of the earth's surface.

“Our allies in Japan are next, I believe.”

Behind him, his rake-thin form backlit by the faint glow of the tactical map, Lelouch sat with his elbow propped on the edge of the table, eyes fixed on his chessboard.

“Do you want to talk to them?”

“Suzaku, they are _your_ allies too.”

“I just thought you might miss--”

“--being a revolutionary mastermind?”

“Talking to familiar people,” Suzaku finished. “You’ve taken to this secretive Knight of Zero business all too well.”

“Have you been talking to Euphie about me behind my back?” Lelouch asked from behind arched black-gloved fingers. Autumn was drawing to a close and here in Pendragon, the weather was turning chilly. Lelouch hated the cold with a vengeance--one more reason for him to avoid going outside his suite of rooms. His days revolved around the meeting rooms and tactical centres. His nights, more often than not, were spent pouring over reports until Suzaku dragged him off to bed. Despite the old joke between them, waking up late had not figured in Lelouch’s schedule in a while.

“She sends her love and tells me that your feet get cold faster than hers do.”

It was enough to make Lelouch colour a little and whatever clever comebacks he had planned would be neatly penned in.

“I told her I knew that from the time when we were kids,” Suzaku said, relentless now that he had an opening. “Which was not helped by the fact that you always gave the extra blankets to Nunnally when you thought the two of us were asleep.”

Embarrassed into letting slip his indifferent pose, Lelouch sat ramrod straight and glared at him. “If you have enough time to chit-chat on the secured communication channels--”

“It was you who told me to check in on them while you were busy with the re-ordering of the consulates.” Euphie had a few things to say about “keeping the girls well away from the frontlines” but the fact remained that they were the weakest point for the would-be conquerors of Britannia. So Nunnally and Euphemia remained secretly ensconced in the forgotten shrine on the outskirts of Kyoto, defended by the only two retainers who could be entrusted with their whereabouts. Not even the upper echelons of the former Order of the Black Knights knew. At any rate, the Japanese members of the Order had formerly resigned to reform themselves as the United Japanese Defense Force. All of it had been planned in preparation for the reinstatement of democracy in Japan--which would be announced in a scant few weeks. No doubt their allies in Japan would be pressing for news of it once they confirmed the security of their borders--

The beeping from the switchboard interrupted his thoughts. Even Lelouch looked over with interest as that particular sound signalled a call from their main communications hub.

Toggling the sound-only switch, Suzaku turned to the receiver. “Yes?”

“A courier delivered this to the border guard at Fort Islington yesterday night, sire! Do you want a visual?”

It was a roll of heavy paper--parchment actually--bound with ribbons and heavy wax seals in a leather tube. 

“We’ve had it scanned and dusted for bugs and bio-hazards, sire. It appears clean. Should we open it?”

“Have it sent up,” Lelouch said, showing far more animation than he had previously. “Those seals are an amusing conceit.”

As a former Knight, Suzaku had recognised them as well--the Imperial crest and coat of arms of the Royal family.

“What is it?” Suzaku asked as Lelouch unrolled the parchment with little care for the officious seals and ribbons.

“A declaration of the Court in Exile,” Lelouch said, scanning the missive rapidly. “Rejection of the usurper, denial of legitimacy, announcement of the temporary Regent, etcetera. Schneizel has been busy, it seems.”

“Is this Court of theirs a threat?” Of all the royal siblings aligned against them, Schneizel was the largest threat. According to Lelouch, Odysseus would be nothing more than a figurehead if the exiled nobles flocked around him. Schneizel, on the other hand, was a charismatic leader in his own right and one of the few people who could make Lelouch sweat. 

“Their court has no legitimacy or any real power, but will be a rallying point for royalists and other disgruntled nobles,” Lelouch said, tossing the papers onto the side table next to the chessboard. He turned to pace the length of the room, his thoughts turning inwards as he mulled over the potential issues. “This is nothing more than a formality. Schneizel wouldn’t waste time on a formality . . . unless--unless he’s buying time for something else.”

Suzaku glanced at the discarded parchment. Someone had taken the time to write it out in flowing calligraphy. It was a lot of work for an elaborate ruse, but then again the Second Prince was a canny one. Instinct told him that it would be good to keep that one in his sights.

“We’ve tracked his movements until the Middle East. He went to ground shortly after. The Second Battalion has been searching for him ever since.”

“Call them back,” Lelouch said decisively. “If Schneizel doesn’t want to be found, we won’t find him by flying up and down the Gulf. We need a better clue as to his whereabouts. I’ve been sifting through his pet projects for the past few years to get a better idea of what’s he’s planning . . .”

Amongst other things. Suzaku also knew that his obsessive search for Empress Marianne’s killer continued. There had been nights when he had woken to the cool glow of a laptop screen and Lelouch’s dark head bent over various security reports and recordings from the past. Now that he had access to all the confidential information in the Palace databases, the intensity of his investigations had increased significantly. Not that he spared himself from the endless meetings and tactical planning sessions--hence the increased frequency of his late night readings.

“You should concentrate on that angle then. Once you’ve eaten lunch,” Suzaku added. Whenever the former prince got too caught up in his research or too engrossed in his plans, he tended to neglect things like meals and sleep.

“If only to make you less of a nursemaid.” Lelouch knew full well that Suzaku was not above using Nunnally to get him to cooperate. 

“I wouldn’t need to be if only certain _Buriki_ princes would learn to take care of themselves for once.”

Lelouch waved dismissively as he exited the room. “ _Hai, hai_.”

It was like herding cats. Suzaku shook his head tolerantly--it was a task he had taken upon himself. And there were the constant field reports to deal with. He should make that call to Japan now--

“Work, work, work--it might never end, you know?”

C.C., like Arthur, could appear noiselessly in his presence--a mystery that Suzaku no longer questioned after so many years. She currently occupied the same chair Lelouch had vacated.

“It’s harder than it looks,” Suzaku said.

“It’s easier with smaller territories.” Ageless and unchanging, the witch had undoubtedly known a few kings back in the feudal eras. But on the subject of ruling, she had very little to offer.

“You’re worried that he’ll be overstretched,” she stated after a pause. But she did take an interest in his personal affairs from time to time.

“I should let him off the tactical duties . . . and save him for the diplomatic matters.”

“Ah, but you need each other. Even I can see that,” C.C. said, picking up a chess piece from the board. “And you two are formidable together.”

“That’s a change of tune from you,” Suzaku said. “You used to say that--”

“--I said that the Power of Kings would make you lonely. So don’t take for granted what you have now.”

He thought of the two women in the old annex up on the hill in Kyoto. “I won’t.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 18th, 2010 a.t.b._

_“What is it?” Suzaku asked when Lelouch had paused. They had been walking along the hillside road--Suzaku acting as an unofficial bodyguard for the Britannian prince who would have furiously denied the need for one a few weeks ago. But things had changed recently._

_The other boy hesitated. “I thought I saw . . . I thought I saw someone over there. It must have been my imagination--”_

_Suzaku was instantly on the alert, scanning the surrounding woods. “We should be careful--”_

_They should be. They ought to be, after the events of the past month._

_There was no one there. But like Lelouch, Suzaku had the feeling that someone had been there._

_“Come on, let’s get back! Nunnally’s waiting for you!”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The presence that had been watching them withdrew._

_Her interest had not been piqued like this in a long time. The one she had been looking for was . . . suitable. But the other boy was a surprise she had not anticipated._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	3. The Longest Road

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_October 24th, 2022 a.t.b._

_Kururugi Suzaku,_

_Your commission as Knight of Seven has been officially withdrawn as a result of your obviously treachery and rebellion . . ._

“This is becoming the royal equivalent of junk mail,” Lelouch commented as he took the letter from Suzaku. The official crest of the Rounds embossed in gold leaf gleamed in the last few rays of sunlight streaming through the window. “At least they’re doing everything by the book. Look, they’ve even revoked your Honorary Britannian status.”

“What do they gain from all this?” Suzaku asked, ignoring the issue of his nationality for the more immediate concerns. The withdrawal of Britannian forces from occupied territories was foremost on his mind, as was the return of sovereignty to the now-defunct Areas. The labyrinthine workings of Britannian politics and the sophistry associated with it, he left to Lelouch. The trouble was, with Schneizel involved . . . 

“Absolutely nothing. Which means it’s a blind for something else and they’re just reminding us that they’re still out there.” Discarding the letter, Lelouch narrowed his eyes at the tactical maps. “As we’ve managed to track down Odysseus and Carline, I can safely say that they probably aren’t in on whatever Schneizel is up to.”

“You don’t really want to hunt down all your siblings, do you?” In his quest for vengeance, Lelouch had been prepared to do a lot more than that.

“Euphemia would disapprove.” Lelouch barred his teeth in a parody of a grin. “I was thinking about a few years on a nice cold rock out in the middle of the ocean.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_August, 2010 a.t.b._

_Ten year old boys, in Suzaku’s limited experience, did not hate the way adults did._

_But Lelouch did—black venom spilling forth from his words as he vowed to crush the country that had spurned him. Mixed into that poisonous hate was the bile reserved for his father and his mother’s killers._

_Perhaps that was why he had felt a chill when Lelouch had sworn vengeance. He would not forget and he would not forgive, this child of foreign kings._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_October 26th, 2022 a.t.b._

“So the arrangements have been made on this end,” Suzaku said in his native tongue. “All that’s left is to ensure that Japan is capable of getting onto its feet again afterwards. With all assistance rendered, of course.”

The rebuilding of the war-torn regions were the most pressing issue, right next to the defensive capabilities of the fledgling armed forces.

Captain Kouzuki Kallen, currently the official liaison of the UJDF, stared back at him from the screen. It was just past midnight in Pendragon, so it was probably fairly early in Tokyo.

“Aah, we’ve got heaps of applicants for the Volunteer Corps and with the EU and Chinese Federation pledging to invest in the rebuilding, we should be able to make a start on it.” It was a little strange to see her in the new olive green UJDF uniform--Kallen was most at home in her flight-suit and the cockpit of her KMF.

“So you’re retiring from the armed forces?” he asked by way of making conversation. She was the best KMF pilot he had the pleasure of battling and one of the veterans of the war who was near his age. In their recent communications, Suzaku had been getting hints that she would be hanging up her flight-suit one day to pursue a more civilian mode of life with her biological mother.

“Peace and independence . . . It’s what we’ve been fighting for,” she said after an awkward pause that told him that his question had caught her by surprise. “I haven’t officially tendered in my request for a reassignment . . . but I might go into the Volunteer Corps.”

“I see. I wish you all the best.” Japan needed its best men and women to rebuild itself from the ashes.

“Will you . . . will you ever come back?” It was her turn to ask the uncomfortable questions. Despite her dual heritage, Kallen had chosen one nationality irrevocably over the other. She had always wondered how Suzaku could give up a part of his own identity like that. 

_You’re still one of us, right? You’re still Japanese . . ._

“I don’t think I ever thought about that,” Suzaku said carefully, picking his words the way a man would diffuse the ignition device on a bomb. “I--we’ve never planned beyond the dissolution of the empire.”

More to the point, they had not actually planned that far because there had been such a slim chance of success. But now that they had achieved the almost impossible goal, there was still the matter of surviving through the transition period. A great many things could happen between now and the hazy, undetermined future. And it was best not to tempt fate.

“How’s he been?” Kallen asked after a brief internal struggle that Suzaku could read from the lines between her brows.

“Aloof. Focused. Obsessed. The usual.” He looked at her again and relented. “It’s good of you to ask. He’s been working late. I should get him to contact you.”

“Same old stubborn prince, huh,” Kallen said, not bothering to mask her concern.

“I’ll tell him you asked after him.” Once he found Lelouch and dragged him to bed. He was probably in the Imperial archives, pouring over records with a fine-toothed comb.

“Not just myself alone. We were his comrades-in-arms, no matter what he thinks.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t trust you . . . he’s just--” Just too stubborn to accept friendships out of the fear or paranoia that they would be used against him. Just too used to distancing himself from others. Just the result of caring too much for the people he knew. “--just too involved in every single thing that crosses his desk. You know how he gets when he’s focused on something. Now that Schneizel’s made his presence known, he’s doubly engrossed with outmanoeuvring his brother.” 

“Suzaku . . . Take care of him--even if you do need to tie him down to the bed.” A few years ago, Kallen would never have said anything like that. Not without blushing at least. “And Toudou said to get in touch, when you have the time to spare.”

“Aa, all right then.” 

“You look like you need some sleep yourself.” Kallen saluted briefly before signing out. Not a formal one, more of a good-luck-you-crazy-bastard kind of thing.

“Will you call Toudou?” Legs swinging idly from her perch on the map table, C.C. was suddenly behind him. Suzaku supposed that she had been there the entire time and overheard everything before choosing to reveal her presence. It was not eavesdropping to her.

“Maybe later.” If they could see this through, there would be time for that later.

“Pot, kettle--no wonder you share the same bed,” C.C. said. 

“What do you mean?” he asked despite knowing full well what the witch was implying.

“You were doing a great job of walling yourself off before you even met me.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_August, 2010 a.t.b._

_The devastated landscape was bare of life. Except for the car that was disappearing into the distance._

_“Will you--I mean, will you be all right?”_

_“Yeah. I’ll head for the base at Wakasa.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_August, 2010 a.t.b._

_The base at twenty-something kilometres away from where he parted ways with Lelouch and Nunnally. Suzaku figured that he could make it in a day or so if he walked along the highway._

_When he started walking, it seemed to take forever. He thought that if he just concentrated on putting one foot in front of another, it would stop him from thinking. Put the fields of corpses out his mind for once. It worked as far as the daylight held out and he stopped to rest for the night._

_The darkness brought no respite as Suzaku faced the first night alone for the first time in his life. He might as well have been the only living soul in the vicinity after the numerous air raids._

_Bleary-eyed and numb from spending the night on the ground, he walked on until he came to the coastline. The low dark shape of the military base could just be seen on the horizon. Heartened by the thought of finding people--someone, anyone—again, he quickened his pace down the empty stretch of road._

_But as he got closer, he realised that the cluster of buildings appeared dark because they had been thoroughly shelled and then scorched by the resulting fire._

_Dismayed, he had no other option but to move on. Following the road in the blind hope that it would lead somewhere he could find--_

_Find help? Find his relatives? He did not deserve anyone’s help now._

_It took a while for him to register that the buzzing noises in the background were not insects. Looking up, he saw the dark shape of an aircraft carrier flying low over the hillside. A hatch in its belly opened and the carrier disgorged its cargo._

_Suzaku gaped open-mouthed at the strange machines that were moving down the hillside to the road. Were these the new battle machines Britannia had been using? The Knightmare Frames? They looked a little like the robots he had for toys. And they were headed in his direction._

_Anxiety took over as he realised that they were not going to stop for one insignificant boy by the roadside. The machines were headed for the base--probably to secure it for the Britannian invaders. In fact, he was probably going to get run over--_

_He was suddenly amidst the wheeled-limbs of the Knightmare Frames, the speed of their passage knocking him off his feet and sending him rolling like one of the pebbles in their wake._

_Shaken, but not so much that he could not move, he instinctively got up and stumbled to get under cover._

_A drainage ditch by the roadside yielded a tunnel made of reinforced concrete. But his intended shelter was already occupied._

_He thought it might have been a wild animal, driven into hiding by the war machines, but those tawny eyes were far too intelligent to be that of a beast._

_As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he realised that there was a girl seated in the deeper recesses of the makeshift shelter._

_“Hello?” he ventured tentatively. One blink, then another was his only response._

_“You don’t have to be scared . . .” Even though he was scared and doing his best not to show it._

_No, she was not afraid of him. She was studying him. Any further attempts at talking to her yielded nothing but that neutral stare. In the end, he stopped trying. It was not an uncomfortable silence that permeated in their shared hiding place and somehow, he dozed off while she watched him, too exhausted for the nightmares to reach him._

_When he awoke hours later, the tunnel had not collapsed on them and the sounds of the machines were long gone. There was only the girl, watching him in the silence. Moving slowly, Suzaku backed out of the tunnel. The skies were clear of any enemy or friendly craft._

_“Hey, miss . . . Miss?” he said, peering into the tunnel. But she was crawling out after him. Dusting off her pants, she looked at him as if to say_ now what? __

_In fading daylight, he saw her more clearly and knew that he had been right to assume that she was older. She was slightly-built even thought she was an adult. Not really old, but to a ten-year old, she simply fell into that category._

_So why was he making the decisions?_

_There was nothing to do but continue walking down the road. She followed him wordlessly. Perhaps she was mute. Suzaku was just glad that there was someone else on the road with him._

_They came across a petrol station along the highway. Deserted, but still stocked with odds and ends of food. Miracle or not, the electricity was still working and there was still running water. They did not turn the lights on as the night finally took back the summer sky--there might be hostile aircraft in the vicinity._

_He insisted that they leave some money on the counter, digging out the coins from his pocket when she patted her own apologetically--_ no money, sorry. _They ate their fill from the not-that-stale bread on display and still valid milk and cheese in the chiller unit, rounding it all off with ice-cream._

_It felt odd, eating ice-cream in the middle of nowhere with a stranger that had somehow become his travelling companion. Even though she was older, she never said anything about his washing hands--which Suzaku did dutifully anyway--or cleaning up afterwards. Suzaku tidied up as best he could before using the bathroom to wash up and tend to the bruises he had sustained._

_That night, he dreamed of his father in the field of corpses. Unable to go back to sleep again, he stared wide-eyed at the ceiling until dawn broke._

_They took some bread and snack bars with them when they left the next morning, following the road again into the uncertain world that lay ahead._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	4. In Any Other World

_November 1st, 2022 a.t.b._

The coronation was scheduled for the fifth of the month. Lelouch had taken one look at the etiquette books and declared that they were not going to use any of _that_ rubbish. In fact, if Suzaku was not mistaken, the volumes were currently being used to start the fires in the study they were sitting in.

Away from prying eyes, Lelouch liked to plant himself in his armchair in front of the fireplace as the days grew colder. Suzaku joked that he only needed a rug over his knees and fluffy slippers to complete the picture.

“The offer to Britannian citizens to return to Britannia proper or stay in their current countries of residence has been made public since last week . . .” Lelouch prodded his tablet with the stylus as he called up various reports from the interim government. He had kept most of the existing infrastructure after culling out suspected royalists and trimming the excess fat from the administrative positions--and how Lelouch had bitched about just how many unnecessary posts there were due to nepotism and cronyism. Former members of the Order of the Black Knights rounded off the motley crew that was holding the largest Empire one earth together. Held together “mostly with duct tape and glue” was the popular joke going around the offices at the moment. “Not all applications have been counted yet . . .”

“And the results of that?” Suzaku was taking an hour away from reviewing field reports to indulge in a cup of afternoon tea--a habit he had picked up from his years as an Honorary Britannian. No strangely-flavoured riceballs this time, thank goodness.

“Eighty percent of the overseas population applied to return. Around ten percent are staying and the rest are refusing to answer.” Lelouch looked amused at the statistics. “It seems that my countrymen are not so blind to the way the wind is blowing. Or about their own popularity in the former Areas.”

There had been reports. Scattered incidents of violence against Britannians by former Numbers. The Britannians were not the only ones who were feeling the effects of the change.

“Efforts by local agencies and human rights organisations to stop anti-Britannian violence have been sporadic at best,” Lelouch continued. “No fatalities so far. That counts as a miracle in its own right.” 

“That would explain the high rate of returning Britannians?” There were very few who hated Britannia and all it stood for with the passion of the exiled prince, but from his experience on the war front, Suzaku knew that buried resentments were often more volatile. There had been whole _generations_ raised to hate their Britannian overlords.

“They are willing to return and throw themselves on your mercy, perhaps,” Lelouch said, smirking. “You might be the lesser of two evils after the coronation.”

Just declaring the former Areas independent would not do. He might as well just jump up yelling _Nippon Banzai!_ The chances of opening the floodgates for anti-Britannian sentiments were too high. So Lelouch, with his overworked team of translators and diplomatic go-betweens, had wrangled his way to an alternative arrangement with the temporary governing bodies through all the channels he could find. After the coronation, there would be formal petitions presented by respective parties from each country. All Suzaku would have to do was to agree to them and the thorny issue of whoever was beholden to whoever would be sidestepped, the potential loss of face to Britannia reduced and the real issues like electing their new leaders could actually begin.

“Then there’s the matter of _that_ . . .”

They looked at the newest message tube, perched on a tray alone like a particularly unsavoury Swiss roll. Arthur had grown fond of playing with the ribbons that bound the missives, but he had taken one sniff at this new tube and scuttled away. The contents were equally unpalatable.

_Kururugi Suzaku,_

_Relinquishing sovereignty of any Area will be considered an open declaration of war. Your alliance with our traitorous brother has not gone unnoticed . . ._

“Schneizel doesn’t make idle threats.” Lelouch frowned, obviously going through all the possible scenarios in his head. “Assuming that he has the resources, it could be an all-out war.”

It would take more than just a threat to make them back down, now that they had come this far.

“We will have to deal with him eventually.” Suzaku hoped that there would not be another war. They were just recovering from the previous one. It had been a miracle that the casualty-count had remained so low. The element of surprise had been on their side and they--Lelouch had, at Suzaku’s insistence--had chosen their battlefields deliberately to minimise injury to non-combatants.

The other man had argued that that had been no way to wage a war, but he had done his level best to make it a bloodless coup. Lelouch had complained that Suzaku wanted to fight in every battle just to ensure that the combat did not spill over the imaginary boundaries they had set.

But he had accepted that power and he had a responsibility to finish what he had started.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_August, 2010 a.t.b._

_After a while, the roads started look the same. Suzaku had to depend on the road signs to figure out where they were. His companion was of no help when it came to directions._

_She stayed about a metre or two behind him as they walked. Suzaku turned every now and then to check and she was always there like a silent shadow._

_They met others along the road. People from the rural towns and farms who had lost their homes in one way or other because of the aerial battles. More than one group who had left their vehicles by the roadside when they had finally ran out of petrol. All of them looked like they had been putting one foot in front of the other, walking on in the hope that help was just over the next rise. They did not speak very much as they slogged on, wariness evident on every face present._

_From the road signs, Suzaku estimated that they had travelled just over ten kilometres by foot that day by the time they reached the outskirts of another city. It was close to evening when they passed under the remains of a broken flyover and saw the signs posted along the broken road._

_Relief workers were gathered at the harbour side, picking up refugees and survivors. There would be medical aid for injured parties. Arrows posted amongst the ruins pointing the way._

_The pace picked up at once as everyone realised that the endless walk was coming to an end. As they neared the edge of the city closet to the harbour, they started to take more risks, threading their way through narrow streets to take the shortest possible route. This close to the harbour, the buildings had sustained the most damage from the aerial and naval attacks._

_The relief workers--overworked and understaffed--had recognised the danger but could barely spare the manpower to direct people along the safer roads. A couple of them were hurrying towards the latest ragtag band of Japanese refugees. It was too late to turn them back--all they could do was to urge them to move out of the danger zone._

_It happened as they were passing under the shadow of a twelve-storey block of flats that was missing its four uppermost levels. The damaged structure suddenly groaned like an animal in pain. On the shattered road, the refugees looked up in alarm at the noise._

_They started to run just as the building shuddered violently. Suzaku was reminded of the strongest earthquake he had experienced when he had been five. Only this was no earthquake. This was the death throes of a city._

_Everything seemed to happen all at once. The people in the distance were waving frantically at them, but Suzaku could not hear what they were shouting. Not over the tortured roar of masonry coming apart over their heads. The skeleton of steel girders issued a final tormented squeal and the building seemed to lean over like a winded runner._

_Various parts of the structure seemed to hang in the air for a moment--then chaos descend upon them. Suzaku felt the ground shift under his feet and the world upended suddenly._

_After a disorientating interval, he opened his eyes to find himself sprawled face-first on the asphalt. Had he fallen down? Why was everything suddenly green?_

_She had fallen over him and he was swimming in the shroud of her long green hair for a moment before he could turn over and realise what had happened._

_“Oi . . . Miss?”_

_Struggling to get up from under her, he tried to move her as well. It was then that he saw the massive chunks of rubble and glass that had fallen and pinned her legs down._

_“Hey . . . get up, we have to get out of here . . .” Suzaku tugged at her arm helplessly as blood started to seep out from under her body. This was not happening--it could not be happening. They had just found the relief effort. “Wake up! Wake up please!”_

_But a part of him knew that it was too late for her. Too late for the middle-aged man who had been crushed by the debris a mere three metres to his right. Too late for the woman who had been carrying her child as she had tried to run for safety--they lay together in an ungainly sprawl amidst the glass shards of what had been a large window._

Why had he survived? When everyone else had died? He had been useless--

_Her hand twitched in his grasp and Suzaku heard her voice for the first time._

“If you want the power to save others, then I’ll make a contract with you,” _she said._

_He did not know how she was talking to him--she just was._

“You have to open yourself to me.”

_And she was there with him, on the night when he had stood with his teacher’s sword in his hand over his father’s body. She was there with him on the road when the masked men had tried to take Lelouch. She was one of the corpses on the bombed and devastated field--all the people he could not save._

_All of this, he had to make right. Somehow. For it was not right that he had survived when the others had died._

“Grant my one wish, and I will give you the power you need.” _They were once again standing over his father’s corpse in a dark room, a sheathed blade between them._

 _Suzaku hesitated then._ “Not for myself. Never for myself.”

 _She extended her hand to him._ “That is for you to decide. But you will have to live long enough to use it. Choose now.”

_Time seemed to slow as he reached out._

_The blade slide out of its sheath._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_She had not meant to do it. She had not meant to give the power to the boy._

_After all she had learned the hard way about granting the power to children younger than this._

_But he had wanted the same thing she did and he was one of the strongest potential acceptors she had found._

_Normal people influenced their environment to a certain extent but this one--this boy who was barely ten years old--altered the world around him by merely existing. There had been people in the past, the witch knew, who made history because events were drawn to them the way iron filings were to a magnet. They had all been, without exception, potential candidates for the power that was her one gift and sole curse._

_It had been made all the more obvious when he alone survived the collapse of the building. Chance and circumstance had changed._

_If she had been in a more honest mood, she might have acknowledged that destiny had thrown her his way and chance had created the opportunity for her to make that offer once again._

_In a million other worlds, he had refused._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	5. An Unsheathed Blade

_November 2nd, 2022 a.t.b._

Today was a marginally better day than yesterday. The standoff in South America had ended with fairly little violence and the last pockets of open resistance had quietened down. Suzaku felt the tension in his shoulders lessen a little more as he stepped out onto the terrace for a breath of fresh air. The sun had decided to show itself that day and it was reasonably balmy outside.

“The first two groups of delegates have arrived.” Beside him, without a PDA or tablet for once and _sans_ earpiece communicator, Lelouch looked out over the expansive and doubtlessly expensive gardens behind the Palace. “They’re submitting their proposals even as we speak.”

“Does that mean I get the afternoon off?”

“It’s not a job, you know,” Lelouch said, going along with his mild jest. “Besides, you have other duties.” He gestured towards the south wing where they were housing the envoys. There was a knot of people being guided out by the liveried ushers.

“And what is this about?”

“I thought you might like to see certain people first,” Lelouch said, turning to go even as the party in the distance spotted them.

“Before the official brouhaha hits,” Lelouch added over his shoulder.

“Are you going to leave me to my cousin?” Suzaku asked as he made out the individual figures approaching from the south wing.

“Is that a request or an order?”

Suzaku almost smiled. “You’re the clever one--you figure it out.”

He moved forwards and a moment later, heard the booted footsteps behind him. His small victory was short-lived, however, as he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

“Suzaku!”

He had a terrifying vision of being trounced by a girl who was barely higher than his elbow before reality reasserted itself. Kaguya had grown--she would never be tall but her presence was as large as ever. And she might remember not to kick him as befitting the dignity of the Japanese envoy.

“Or is it _Your Majesty_ now?” she asked in only-slightly accented Britannian. For once, Suzaku was glad of her ability to make anything sound irrelevant. It was not a title he had relished.

“Save it for later,” Suzaku said. Kaguya could be perfectly formal when she wanted to behave herself. He looked over the small party--around half a dozen of them--that had come with her to Pendragon and was pleasantly surprised to see that they were a lot younger than the Japanese average politician.

“Don’t look so shocked,” his cousin said in Japanese. “Things have changed, you know?” 

From the old days. From his father’s day. That was what she meant, Suzaku knew. 

“For the better, I hope.”

“Of course,” Kouzuki Kallen said. “We wouldn’t have been able to get things going so fast if any of the old bureaucratic red tape had been in the way.”

The captain of the UJDF First Squadron, in her sharply-pressed uniform, was apparently on security duty but she looked more relaxed now that Kaguya had so neatly broken the ice and forestalled any potential tension.

“You sound like a disgruntled civil servant already,” Suzaku said, more than willing to rib her a little for the time she had spent undercover as a member of the military administrative staff.

“Spare me the forms in triplicate,” Kallen said. “ _You_ look like you’ve been doing a little more form-signing and report-reading than piloting these days.”

“It’s the danger of rising so high,” Kaguya said archly. “Say, we shouldn’t be discussing this somewhere else?”

He was forgetting his manners already, but Lelouch had stepped forward. “But of course. If you will follow us to the terrace, arrangements have been made.”

Only Lelouch, Suzaku reflected, would have come up with something like this at such short notice. Kaguya and Kallen bore identical looks of amusement as they were shown to a set-up not unlike a typical Britannian afternoon tea. The resemblance ended at the tablecloths. Instead of Earl Grey and cake, there was green tea with an assortment of _wagashi_ and cookies.

It was also positioned well away from any prying ears and Suzaku would have bet that Lelouch had every stick of furniture debugged.

The carefully-worded congratulations came first, then the more general issues that could not be misconstrued in any way to be an effort on the Japanese delegation’s part to use their leverage on the present commander-in-chief of the largest armed presence on earth. Lelouch turned on the charm that he seldom used in the company of people he actually knew to keep the dialogue going. Suzaku noticed that Lelouch resisted Kaguya and Kallen’s best efforts to draw him into actual conversation.

Afterwards, Suzaku found the time to speak his cousin alone when Lelouch managed to shuffle the other envoys away on some pretext or other. Kallen would no doubt persist in her efforts and she would probably succeed in cornering Lelouch to give him a piece of her mind.

“You’ve changed,” Kaguya said as they sauntered slowly down the path bordered by well-manicured hedges. “I don’t think you’d let me kick you now.”

“I trusted you not to.”

“You always expected people to behave in a certain way when we were younger.” Kaguya was obviously resisting the urge to do a few pirouettes down the path as they walked sedately along. “Now maybe not so much. Did you expect Lelouch to dump the Order like that when you made your move?”

The signal for the start of the coup had been the very moment Lelouch had left the Order of the Black Knights to join up with the rogue military faction under Suzaku. It was to have been a permanent realignment of his position in the subsequent war. But as Kallen had said, soldiers did not forget their old comrade in arms.

And he had not quite _dumped_ them, Suzaku wanted to say in Lelouch’s defence. It had been decided that the Order would disband, freeing certain groups to return to their former allegiances where they would be well-placed to help with the coming transition. Lelouch--being who he was and what he was--had intended to burn his bridges behind him. It would not do for a Britannian strategist to be so closely associated with the potential leaders of the future. 

“Lelouch . . . is Lelouch,” Suzaku said at last.

"I noticed. Does he think he's that much of a liability now that he's openly on your side?"

_You have no idea. And there might be more than one enemy left on the field. Another enemy we cannot guard against so easily._

No, Kaguya and the others did not know about the disturbing news that Jeremiah had brought with him when he had sought Lelouch out. The possible link between a group of _Geass_ users and the royal family of Britannia was chilling enough without the addition of Schneizel still left unchecked. 

It had been unavoidable. The Second Prince had more than one exit strategy in store and corralling him had taken second place to securing the military coup of an extremely militant and war-ready Empire with as little bloodshed as possible. 

“He’s just a little paranoid.” It came from having lost too much too early. It came from a lot of bitter experience fighting a war against colossal odds. “It would take just one disgruntled faction to accuse us of setting up puppet democracies and we would be set back by months.”

"It's hard to believe that we got there so soon though," Kaguya said, sensing his need to change the subject and giving way gracefully. "You might have to fight to separate the first taken Areas from Britannia though."

He was rather hoping that there could be another way of easing Britannia out of the Areas where they had been firmly entrenched for a century or so. Countries that had not heard their own names spoken for decades. It would be messy.

"If I have to."

That was the limitation he had imposed on himself. The witch's gift and curse would not go to waste, but only for this cause alone.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_August, 2010 a.t.b._

_After hearing her voice, Suzaku did not remember very much afterwards. He only knew that he had to get her out of the rubble. He had dug her out somehow--chunk by chunk of concrete flying over his shoulder until he could move her. He had gone back for the woman and child. And the middle-aged man._

_But only she had stood up as though her legs had not been crushed by debris from a falling building. As though she had not lost several litres of blood from her wounds. The rest lay where he had dragged them._

_“You cannot bring the dead back to life,” she said to him._

_What good was this power then?_

_But the blade had been unsheathed._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_It was the girl’s green hair that had made them so noticeable in the middle of the devastation._

_The relief workers picked their way across the ruins and found the boy and the older girl beside the bodies of the dead. They were obviously traumatised by what they had witnessed, the relief workers thought as they took in the awful scene. The blood on the girl’s clothes probably came from helping the boy pull the bodies out, they concluded. The boy was withdrawn and the girl was . . . just blank. They would have treated them a little more delicately if they had the time and the manpower, but it was imperative to get them out of the crumbling city along with the other refugees._

_It was three days after the evacuation before anyone thought to ask them their names. By that time the girl had mysteriously disappeared and Headquarters had been alerted to the fact that they had--entirely by chance--picked up the late Prime Minister’s only son._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	6. Excess Baggage (Weight Restrictions Apply)

_November 2nd, 2022 a.t.b._

Kallen caught up with Lelouch not because he was bad at running--although he was physically not up for anything more strenuous than a five-minute brisk trot. He was waylaid by no less than three aides about matters regarding the delegates desire to wear their cultural costumes, the order of their presentation after the coronation and the matter of security at the reception. 

“You’re still taking care of all the small details, even now,” Kallen said, amusement evident in her tone and demeanour as she watched Lelouch bark out orders in the middle of a long gallery lined with what looked like priceless works of art. He was obviously annoyed by all the petty concerns coming his way.

“It has to go without a hitch,” Lelouch said, looking up at last. “The whole--”

“The whole world is watching, I know,” Kallen parroted. “When has it not been watching?”

She held up her hands in surrender when Lelouch looked like he was about to go into a long dramatic spiel about how they had waived the right to privacy the moment they had chosen to become rebels. “All right, so tell me how you’ve been. Asides from taking over the Empire, I mean.”

“Busy.” Lelouch afforded a rare smile. “And yourself?”

“Busy and exciting at the same time,” Kallen replied. “How’s Nunnally?”

“She’s fine,” Lelouch said, looking happier to be talking about his sister. He was a lot less defensive and secretive about her now. “So . . . the others?”

“We’re trying our best. It’s not like we can’t manage without you--you had to do what you did . . . But that doesn’t make it any easier,” Kallen said slowly. “For me, at least.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Kallen injected quickly as Lelouch froze. “It’s just hard knowing that I have to lose good friends even after the war. I lost my brother and many others before you even came along. I almost lost my mother before I woke up and stopped being a jerk to her.”

She took a deep breath, aware that she was beginning to ramble. “Just don’t cut yourself off. You still have friends and we’ll be here for you. If you want.”

“You’re giving me a lot more credit than I deserve.” Lelouch looked . . . surprised at her offer.

“The arrogant jerk act was a bit off-putting at first, but you’d be surprised what people can get used to,” Kallen said brightly. The Order had been staffed by a great many eccentric characters, back in the day. It made their absence all the more noticeable now. Some members obviously had no future in the civil service of their respective countries and it had rankled a little that certain people were necessary in wartime but not in peacetime. Lelouch vi Britannia came with too many unwelcome associations--and he knew it all too well.

“I’ll remember that,” Lelouch said, “if we survive the next few weeks.”

“Give my regards to the pizza woman,” Kallen said. “I’m not sure if I can find her in this pile.”

“You can tell me yourself,” C.C. said, emerging from a hallway to the side as though she had been summoned.

“C.C., you haven’t exploded yet from too much pizza,” Kallen said coolly.

“Kallen, you haven’t been blown up in a freak Knightmare Frame accident yet,” C.C. said, equally frosty.

Lelouch was taken aback by this chilly hostility. He almost took a step back so as not to be caught in the crossfire of their glares. Then Kallen cracked first and grinned.

“We’re joking! You should see the look on your face!” Kallen said, breaking out into honest peals of laughter.

“It’s been a rather trying month, as you might have noticed,” Lelouch snapped. He looked like he was regretting that outburst in the next moment as C.C. nudged Kallen and whispered something to her behind her hand.

“It’s all right, we understand,” Kallen said, nodding sympathetically. “You have to catch up whenever you can. Should I say something to Suzaku?”

“Say _what_ to Suzaku?” Lelouch’s brows drew together in suspicion.

“Maybe we should hint it to him instead,” Kallen said to C.C., who shrugged.

They were saved from the inevitable hissy-fit when a mobile phone went off in the vicinity of Lelouch’s pocket.

Lelouch looked at it in surprise before toggling the "answer" key and that alone should have warned Kallen that something was not quite right. He did not speak, obviously waiting for the other party to identify itself.

"This is a private number," he said after a moment. "You got it from--"

C.C. and Kallen looked at each other as a long pause ensued. Lelouch was obviously holding his expression carefully blank as he listened to whatever was being said.

"All right. We should discuss this privately. In ten minutes." Snapping the mobile closed decisively, he turned to find Kallen and C.C. looking at him appraisingly.

"Something came up?"

"You could say that. If you would excuse me--"

“Fine, go on,” Kallen said, resigned. “You can call us when you get the important things settled.”

“If this is as important as it’s supposed to be,” Lelouch replied, though he did look apologetic as he turned to go. 

“Well, that was progress,” Kallen said to no-one in particular. C.C. looked amused at her reaction. “How do you stand it?”

“I don’t have to. Suzaku gets to deal with his eccentricities. Along with the borderline incest, paranoia, shitty attitude and theatrics,” C.C. added. “I think that comes with being Britannian royalty.”

“Yeah, I figured that out,” Kallen said, eying the arches of the grand hallway they were standing in. The detailed friezes on the ceiling framed both nymph-like angels and war-like valkyries--appropriately reflective of the rather bipolar nature of Britannia’s role in the development of modern culture and the flat-out conquering of everything else. “I wouldn’t know how to deal with . . . well, all this. Must have been bad for a kid.”

Some people really should come with labels. _Comes with baggage. Comes with a lot of baggage._ Or _Elusive and not-always-helpful but still a friend._

C.C. looked like she knew what Kallen was thinking. About _her_ own baggage. That was the weird thing about C.C.--she was able to read most people but remained annoyingly opaque to others. To date, Kallen still had a very hazy idea of her actual motivations other than she had some long-standing connection to Kururugi Suzaku. 

“I can’t say I blame him,” Kallen said when C.C. was obviously not going to offer any personal insights. Looking back, she could see how her own life had been influenced by her parents--who they had been and what paths they had chosen. “And Suzaku . . . he was only ten when he was orphaned.”

The other woman looked down the impressive hallway lined with artistic history--a great deal of it probably plundered from Europe--and her amber-gold gaze rested a while on a family portrait of some past generation of Britannian royalty. Kallen could not actually see any family resemblance to place them as Lelouch’s ancestors, but there was a certain regal arrogance there that practically demanded acknowledgment and a few bended knees. 

“That’s what they do these days, right?” C.C. mused. “Blame their parents, their upbringing and background. Though it might be true for them . . .”

“Did you know Suzaku’s parents?” Kallen had surmised--after several years of observation--that C.C. had known Suzaku since he was young.

“Not his parents,” C.C. said after an odd pause. “Only his guardian. Before he joined the army. She was a translator.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_September, 2010 a.t.b._

_Angela Nakamura was the product of expatriate parents. Her parents--Japanese father and Britannian-Chinese mother--had lived in different locales all over the world at one point or another when they had been working in foreign embassies._

_Educated overseas, Angela had chosen to settle in Japan. She worked as a translator for the Foreign Affairs Ministry until the invasion of 2010._

_After the war, she was offered her old job in the new administration--one of the few positions that the Britannians had been willing to concede because they needed native speakers--and as guardian to one Kururugi Suzaku. She was not blind to the fact that her dual nationality had secured for her a place in the new settlement and it had been with no small degree of trepidation that she walked into a private meeting with her superiors regarding a new assignment._

_It was a delicate situation, she had been told. They needed a more neutral party to take charge of the boy--who was not, this was to be stressed, a hostage or pawn of the Britannians. Even the families of the conglomerates based in Kyoto and Tokyo who were cooperating with Britannia were not neutral enough for their liking. And the implications of placing the boy with a Britannian family might ruffle a few more feathers than necessary._ Her parents had been former diplomats, right? Surely she could understand the potential ramifications here?

_It was not exactly an offer she could refuse, although she had questioned her level of suitability for such a task. She would be fine, they said. It would only be for a while._

_“Well fuck this,” she said in the privacy of the washroom stall afterwards._

_It was a phrase she repeated mentally when she went to pick up an obviously shell-shocked boy of roughly ten years of age. She had seen that kind of look in the eyes of children who had fled the genocides of the African continent and survived the famines in China._

_“He probably needs therapy,” she said to the officials who seemed to be in charge when they brought her to sign the forms._

_They made assurances that something would be done. Things were not very settled right now. Maybe they could have the counsellor at his prospective new school do it? Could she sign this in triplicate?_

_“Officious pricks,” she muttered as they left with the forms and she was left to collect one traumatised child. There would not be real help coming any time soon, she knew it in her bones. It did not matter who was in charge, they would shove the matter right under the carpet if they could._

_“Safety first,” she said as she strapped the helmet on him. “We’re getting out of here now.”_

_Fortunately for her, they had not asked about her driving arrangements and they were out of the car-park before anyone could notice that the motorbike was hers._

_Her house was in a residential district that they had cordoned off for inclusion in the new Tokyo Settlement. It was good enough for a single woman, she had thought at the time. The route home always passed the road on the boundary between the bombed ruins of one of the largest metropolitan districts in the country and the new buildings being erected on the other side. The boy did look out at the landscape of shattered skyscrapers they motored past. Once. Then had continued to stare down at his lap._

_“I’m thirty-one and not cut out for single parenthood,” she said to the boy. Who remained silent as he stared at his feet in the entryway of the house. “Just don’t touch the bike and we’ll be all right,” she said, relenting at last._

_The boy had only nodded without looking up and she knew straight away that this was going to be a lot harder than even she had anticipated._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	7. Kindness of Strangers

_November 2nd, 2022 a.t.b._

After ordering the staff on duty out of the room that served as his communications hub, Lelouch set up the secure channel to the required frequency and waited. Precisely ten minutes after he had received that call, the screen that received all incoming transmissions flickered to life. Punctual as always, his older sister was a stickler for protocol and duty.

Although not so much in the days after the failure of the SAZ in Japan and the discovery of certain projects that had been going on in secret while she had been Viceroy. Of all his siblings, Cornelia alone had remained largely neutral in the war--and not just because of where Euphemia stood on the matter.

It was possible that Cornelia disapproved of him even more than she did Suzaku--or rather Suzaku’s relationship with Euphie. But she had not been happy about the situation in the Empire in the recent years and if Lelouch’s own conclusions had been correct, the state of affairs had been going downhill even before the coup had been launched.

The Emperor had been increasing distant from court and various world affairs--including the continued expansion of the Empire. The war fronts had been largely dictated by Schneizel and Carline had been making unsubtle moves towards becoming Cornelia’s successor as commander in chief of the military.

Whatever drove Cornelia to make contact with him--via Euphie no less--had to be important. Which was why he accepted the transmission immediately and toggled the cone of silence over the console for additional privacy.

“I’ve found something,” Cornelia said without preamble as the audio and visual transmission began. “It’s about one of Schneizel’s pet projects.”

Lelouch leaned forwards. It was not often that Cornelia looked uncomfortable and slightly worried at the same time. But this was _Schneizel_ after all. “With regards to?”

“Weapons manufacture. An insider contacted me. She’ll explain it to you herself.”

Lelouch resisted the urge to swear. Schneizel had _many_ interests in that field.

“She’s on her way with an escort. They should be arriving in Pendragon at oh-eight hundred hours, provided they get air clearance and refuelling at Providence in . . . about six hours time.”

“Who is this insider?” Lelouch asked even as he reached over to send the necessary instructions to Providence.

“That’s the other thing. She said she knew you from school. Do you remember Nina Einstein?”

Lelouch was surprised for the first time in a long while. “Nina . . . yes, from Ashford. I heard she was on a scholarship--”

\--courtesy of the Second Prince. Cornelia nodded as comprehension dawned on him.

“She was actually looking for Euphie,” Cornelia added and Lelouch knew about _that_ as well. “But I suppose I was easier to find.”

 _Ah_. There was the crux of the matter.

“I made a promise,” Lelouch stated. He was not offended--if anything, he and Cornelia agreed on this one thing. “Euphie is with Nunnally. You know we’d do anything to protect them.”

“See that you do,” Cornelia said brusquely before signing out. Lelouch took a deep breath. He did not blame her--he would not entrust Nunnally’s safety to anyone else.

After the transmission ended, Lelouch sat back in the chair, flexing his fingers unconsciously as he pondered this new addition to the current set of complications. 

There were too many coincidences. Was it Suzaku’s power unconsciously exerting its influence again? Lelouch had scoffed at first when he had heard the explanation of how that strange power manifested itself. Random chance and a bunch of interrelated events leading up to a point were not the result of one person standing at the right place at the right time. That was what thorough planning was for.

Until Suzaku proved it one too many times on the battlefield that thorough planning only worked up to a certain point.

Lelouch did hate depending on forces he could not explain on top of the factors he could not control. He had better start planning in advance . . . and quickly.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_September, 2010 a.t.b._

_“Is everything . . . all right?” Nunnally asked tentatively as she felt her brother stop pushing the wheelchair. They were outside, taking in the air after another autumnal shower. There was hardly any wind, but Lelouch had insisted that she wear her coat and tuck a rug over her knees._

_The Ashfords were temporarily lodging in one of the prefab houses while their actual residence was being built on their new holdings. It had not taken long for the Britannians to start dividing up the new settlement._

_"It's going to be fine." He said that a lot these days. As though he could will it to be so. But it was not all right, he thought as he stared stoically at the shiny new buildings being erected on the cleared land that had used to be part of the megapolis of Tokyo._

_They were officially dead and like the new city being built on the site of the former ruins, the Lamperouge siblings had come into existence._

_It was almost the same situation as before. Lelouch was constantly by his sister's side and he never left her alone if he could help it. He dared not._

_The Ashfords were starting up a school to capitalise on the influx of expatriate Britannians who brought their children with them. It was understood that Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge would be integrated into the system as discreetly as possible as students. The Ashfords would have assigned them legal guardians--in name only--and they would be living on campus in better-than-the-average-student housing. Courtesy of their current protectors, of course. Even now, Lelouch wondered what possible advantages a pair of disinherited royal siblings would confer in the long run. But the fact remained that they were dependents._

_Lelouch hated being dependent on anyone for anything. Except for Suzaku, he conceded, no longer begrudging the other boy's contribution to what had been the happiest months of his relatively short existence._

_In these past weeks, he had often wondered where Suzaku was and what he was doing. Lelouch hoped he was all right. Safe and unhurt, at least. With people that he could trust, at the very most. But he had very little faith in most adults at the moment._

_Had it been such a good idea to leave with no possible way of contacting each other? Amidst the bustle of the new settlement, Lelouch thought that it might have been a mistake._

_They were amongst Britannians again and he was too heart-sore to open himself again to the kindness of a stranger._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The house was a two-storey standalone with a backyard he could spit across and a front porch that was barely large enough for Angela Nakamura’s motorcycle._

_To Kururugi Suzaku, who had grown up the Japanese equivalent of a mansion with acres of land surrounding it and the ancestral shrine, it resembled a shoebox. But that did not matter anymore. Not when half the residents of Tokyo were currently homeless._

_The woman he was staying with was both a Britannian citizen and a Japanese citizen. She was supposed to make sure he went to school and was his guardian for the duration of time when he was not visiting his relations in Kyoto. She was probably someone working for the government--the new Britannian government._

_She brought him into the house with his very small bag of clothes--all provided for by the Britannian agency that was overseeing his placement--and showed him to her guest room. Now it was his room._

_There was a bed, a wardrobe, a desk and a chair. The curtains looked like they had just been hung recently and the whole room was spotlessly clean._

_“We can get some more stuff for you later,” she said, more than a little uncomfortable in his presence. She spoke to him in Japanese and said that she would continue to do so if he was all right with that._

_Suzaku had nodded. No doubt he would be learning Britannian in his new school soon._

_“I’ll let you settle in then. The bathroom’s to the left. Dinner at seven,” she said briskly and backed out of the room._

_There was not much to unpack. He went to the bathroom down the very short hall to wash up before dinner._

_Some effort had been made in the preparation of dinner. His erstwhile guardian had made it known that it was not a particularly good effort, but Suzaku found the noodles and chicken perfectly edible. He thanked her for it and there was a brief struggle for the right to do the dishes before she exerted the adult privilege of sending him upstairs to bathe._

_Suzaku finished his shower and for the want of something to do, drew back the curtains to look around outside at his new neighbourhood. His room faced the road and beyond it in the distance, the ruined expanse of what once was the metropolitan nerve centre of Tokyo. He leaned out further as something caught his eye in the darkness. Had there been some movement out there? A light that had blinked on for a moment--_

_He was almost halfway out the window when his guardian knocked at his door and popped her head in._

_“Just thought I’d say g--” She froze completely when she saw him. “Is there something I should know?” she asked carefully._

_“I just wanted to see . . .” He gestured abortively at the window._

_She looked at him for a moment, then said, “Get your coat. We’re going out.”_

_Suzaku was surprised. It was past ten o’clock and she was apparently proposing an excursion. But she had a certain energy that swept him along in her wake and he found himself wearing the helmet once again._

_“This trip is a secret, you understand?”_

_Suzaku nodded. He understood that they might be doing something that would cause trouble for her. Something they should not be doing._

_They were on the expressway moments later. A slight autumnal chill was in the wind as they sped along at what could have been illegal speeds. Fortunately for them, the road was mostly empty at this time of the night._

_She pulled up at the side of the arched span of motorway that overlooked both the new settlement and old Shinjuku._

_They got out and went to the guard rail on the Shinjuku side. The devastated landscape was dark but it was not before long a small spark was seen weaving in and out of the ruins. And it was not the only one. The lights were probably candle-ends and emergency torches. The survivors were there, amongst the damaged buildings and downed skyscrapers, scrounging an existence in whatever remained._

_Suzaku did not know how long they stood there in silence. Just that she eventually ushered him back to the bike and drove them home._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	8. Stray Cat

_November 2nd, 2022 a.t.b._

They met Kallen and C.C. on the way back from the gardens. Somewhere along the way, the women had picked up Arthur. The cat had free rein to roam around the Palace--not that he would have accepted any boundaries at this stage.

“Lelouch had to handle something,” Kallen said when Kaguya and Suzaku rejoined them.

It was then that Suzaku felt the disquieting sensation of the _Geass_. _This was important._ Important to them, somehow.

Ever since he had discovered the particular nature of the power he had been granted and the involuntary self-defence mechanism that came along with it, he knew what it meant to be guided by his primary instincts. But it was too soon to see what the issue was and the possible ramifications that would ensue.

He caught C.C.’s eye and she nodded ever so slightly. Making his excuses, Suzaku got an attendant to bring his cousin and Kallen back to their quarters.

C.C., who elevated fading into the wallpaper into a kind of art, blended in amongst the staff and civil servants in the Palace as a member of the new emperor’s entourage. They made their way back to the privacy of his suite of rooms.

“You felt it too.” It was a statement of a fact. C.C. could sense a lot of things he did. Suzaku did not know if it came from knowing her since he was ten years old or another quirk of the _Geass_.

“I expect Lelouch is going to come in with a bundle of good news,” Suzaku said, trying not to sigh as he sat down. “Should I try to make more sense of it now?”

“If you want to.” They had a discouraging record whenever they tried to trace the chain of circumstances linked to him. 

“Do it then.”

C.C. nodded and extended her hands to touch his forehead. Thumbs on his temple, fingertips light on his skin--and she reached in--

_Follow the thread. Elusive. Hard to pin down. Crisscrossed with too many other threads. Too many possibilities--_

Suzaku jerked backwards as C.C. broke contact, reflexively catching her as she stumbled.

“It wouldn’t let me see,” she said after taking several deep breaths. “That or everything’s too fluid to be certain.” 

It usually ended like this. Attempts by both of them to find a way to use the _Geass_ in a more proactive manner had ended mostly in failure. Tapping into Suzaku’s consciousness and sub-consciousness was something C.C. could do fairly easily by now. Tracing the effects of his _Geass_ was a different matter. 

The thing was, he could influence the circumstances of the _present_ if he was in the right place or was around certain people. The future was out of his reach. Or as C.C. put it, too much in flux for the _Geass_ to do anything.

He set C.C. on her feet. She shook out her hair and picked up Arthur, who had been drawn to investigate their activities. The cat purred in satisfaction as she scratched him under his chin.

“So it’s still not clear? Not an inkling of anything related this?”

“It’s worse than a game of cat’s cradle played with uncoordinated cats,” C.C. said, sprawling out on the bed with Arthur.

“Mrrr . . .”

“That’s not very good for almost twelve years of trying.”

“That’s about a grand total of two minutes for me,” C.C. reminded him tartly. She occasionally flared up at him whenever he got impatient with their scattered progress. Which was a lot better than the completely emotionless state she had been at certain stages in the time he had known her.

“Well _sorry_ \--”

Then the door opened to admit one intensely-focused prince. Lelouch did not bother with knocking when he was in a hurry.

“Something’s come up,” Lelouch said as they looked up expectantly.

“Should you cancel the holiday for the staff then?” Suzaku asked. There was to be a day-off for personnel before the coronation, starting from this evening. He had been looking forward to welcoming the Battalions back from the Gulf.

“There’s not much they can do at the moment. Just put your good friend Lloyd on call,” Lelouch said with a sigh. “And any other engineers he knows. We’re expecting an important package tomorrow morning at eight.”

“What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“Make preparations, then wait for that _Geass_ of yours to reel in a whooper.”

Behind them, C.C. flopped back on the bed with an exasperated sigh.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_November, 2010 a.t.b._

_“Have you made any friends at school?” Angela-san asked as they headed out to the school parking lot after the session with the counsellor._

_“Not yet,” Suzaku said, resisting the urge to look at his feet. Angela-san had been rather adamant about that._

_“Well, you don’t have to push it,” Angela-san said. “If you don’t want to, I mean.”_

_That was the other thing about Angela-san--very definitely not Nakamura-san. She had different ideas about fitting in that was not congruent with his former school experience and not always in line with the directives of the current school. Suzaku put it down to her overseas upbringing._

_“Okay.”_

_“Should we get take-out for dinner?”_

_“Okay.” Angela-san was not that into home-cooking even though she could manage basic foods like rice and one-pan stir-fry. Fortunately for both of them, the settlement had a number of food delivery services that had sprouted up to service the growing expatriate population. In the recent weeks, they had had a selection of somewhat-edited Chinese, not-really-that-spicy Indian, pseudo-Japanese, too-bland-for-their-tastes Britannian and Italian cuisine._

_“You decide what we’re getting.”_

_“Okay--” Suzaku had to check himself before Angela-san looked at him. “Maybe pizza?”_

_Later, after all the dishes were done and the leftovers put away, Suzaku took the rubbish out to the collection point. His real objective was the cat living behind the collection point._

_Armed with the last of the milk and a bit of cheese and salami from the pizza, Suzaku tried to entice the tortoiseshell cat to come out._

_He had obviously taken too long, for Angela-san came outside to find him. It was not a dignified position to be in, on his hands and knees while peering under the trash receptacles._

_“Uh--”_

_The tortoiseshell chose that moment to dart out to flitch the cheese-encrusted salami from his slack fingers._

_“Cats shouldn’t drink cow’s milk,” Angela-san said. “We’ll have to get cat-food from the store.”_

_Suzaku could not quite believe his ears as Angela-san turned back to the house._

_“And litter. Which you’ll be paying for out of your allowance.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_Angela--sometimes Kyoko and sometimes Shu Lin, depending on which family reunion she went to--was still single and thirty-one years of age. If asked, she would have said that her life had not changed that much asides from having to buy more food and ferry Suzaku to and from school every day. And the fact that very few men tried to chat up a woman with a ten-year old in tow._

_The kid had been obviously in need of help. It would definitely take a lot more time than three months for him to adjust to a new school on top of losing, well, everything. And the school year had barely started. After the war, a lot of infrastructure had to be rebuilt and only some schools had reopened in October._

_Suzaku had told her that he had problems with making friends in the past. She had been unable to get anything else out of him even though she could sense that this was not the whole story. She did not believe that the boy had been friendless--although she had heard things about the former Prime Minister and knew that it was difficult to live in the shadow of such a man. There were signs--like the thing with the cat--that indicated that he was not completely isolated and out of reach._

_Being in a class of children whose parents had backed the winning side sounded like Chinese water torture on a daily basis to her. On the other hand, hosting a class of Japanese kids in a predominantly Britannian school could not have been a walk in the park. Angela could not pretend that racism was not there, that the long-held prejudices of both Japanese and Britannians would not spill over to their children. She got enough of it at work every day._

_She had not liked Japan’s isolationist stance towards the end, but she could not quite condone Britannia kicking the doors down to keep the Sakuradite flowing. For one thing, what Britannia did to its Areas was unspeakably barbaric. Not that Japan’s deeds during the last great war were anything to sing about, as her mother’s family reminded her every time she visited._

_That cat . . . might have arrived at the right time. Being the odd one out at school required a lot more than the ability to outrun the bullies, Angela Nakamura knew. Thank goodness she had no carpeting and was not fussy about curtains . . ._

_Hands on her hips, she wondered what was taking him so long to carry one cat into the house. Looking back at the entryway, she saw that he was manfully trying not to tear up as the cat happily gnawed on his hand._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_After the bites on his hand had been washed and treated with antiseptic, Suzaku got ready for bed._

_Angela-san had firmly rejected the idea of having the cat sleep with him. “I’m going to be hauled up for child abuse at this rate.”_

_The cat, sensing a good thing as the winter months approached, had been perfectly happy to occupy an old cushioning pad on top of the refrigerator._

_Suzaku usually turned in early. It took a while for him to get to sleep. Not because of the strange surroundings or the fact that he was sleeping alone. He had his own room and it was spacious enough for a ten-year old with no possessions to his name. It was just that at times like this, he missed the company of other children--namely the two siblings he had become close to over the course of a year._

_In the early hours of the morning, he was drifting in and out of sleep when he realised that there was someone else in the bed with him. And it was definitely not the cat._

_It was all he could do not to yell as he came fully awake and fell off the side of the bed in his panic._

_“You’ll wake someone up,” said the dark figure occupying the other half of the bed. The light from the street lamps outside gleamed off a pair of very familiar golden eyes as he gaped up at the green-haired girl._

_“You can talk!” he said, somewhat accusingly as he fumbled for the switch of his bedside lamp. “Why didn’t you talk before?”_

_“There wasn’t anything to say,” she said and that seemed to be explanation enough for her as the lamp illuminated the room._

_“But why are you here?” he blurted out. There were a metric tonne of questions piling up in his mind but he only had one mouth._

_“I had no place to stay,” she said. The shirt and slacks she wore were rather worn and shabby. Suzaku wondered if she had been living on the street. And who was she anyway?_

_“But I--what’s your name? Who are you?” he demanded, remembering the horrible scene in the rubble of a collapsed building._ What are you?

_“I am C.C.--and I will stay beside you until you fulfil our contract.”_

_“Contract . . . you said . . . you had a wish?” Suzaku had not been entirely sure if it had been a dream or a hallucination. He was not entirely sure if this was a bizarre--_

_“You have accepted the power of the_ Geass, _” she said. “That means you’ll fulfil my wish in exchange.”_

_He would have asked what the unfamiliar word entailed, except he was interrupted by a sound akin to someone’s stomach growling--_

_Suzaku stared at C.C., who had the grace to shrug in an embarrassed fashion. They tip-toed down to the kitchen, where Suzaku retrieved the leftover pizza from the refrigerator and popped it into the microwave. The cat blinked at them sleepily and climbed down to join them. The clock on the wall indicated that it was five-thirty in the morning, but Suzaku did not feel the slightest bit sleepy. Not after this._

_C.C. practically inhaled the two slices he put in front of her. She ate like she had not had a meal in days. Suzaku felt rather sorry for her, but she had somehow attached herself to him and he could not imagine how he was going to explain this to Angela-san. It was not quite the same as a pair of royal siblings living in his household as “foreign exchange students”._

_“I don’t think Angela-san can take in another lodger,” he started apologetically. “I’m imposing on her as it is--”_

_“She doesn’t have to know I’m here. I’ve been watching you for the last two weeks.”_

_“But I never--how did you do that? You followed me to school?” This was more than a little unsettling. He knew that various agencies were interested in him and that the Britannians were not letting him out of their sight until they could be sure that their hold on Japan was consolidated, but not this._

_“I am a witch after all,” she said, watching in mild amusement as the cat jumped on her lap to see if any cheese from the pizza was left._

_Suzaku was learning that C.C. only gave certain answers to some of his questions. He also suspected that she was a lot older than she appeared and said so to her face, not having learned to curb some of his impulsiveness._

_“You shouldn’t ask a woman her age,” she told him in her maddeningly vague way._

_“But Angela-san doesn’t mind,” he said. “She’s thirty-one.”_

_“Some modern women are like that,” C.C. said agreeably. It struck him as unfair--she had told him that she was a witch and now she was not telling him anything._

_She left moments later when Angela-san’s alarm clock rang at six-thirty, slipping out the backdoor and over the fence like a phantom before Suzaku could even ask where she was going._

_A few minutes later, Angela-san came down to the kitchen and saw Suzaku at the table._

_“Pizza for breakfast?” Angela-san asked quizzically. But she left it at that and went to fire up the coffee-maker._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_She could barely sense the_ Geass. _And this puzzled her because she had no idea what the power was. She had not been this fazed in decades._

_If she had not made the contract with him, she would never have known he had any ability other than being a potential acceptor. And like the previous ones, she had attached herself to him in an unofficial capacity._

_He was only a boy and children were usually more accepting of the change. They did not question why a witch would speak to them. They did not question the nature of her only gift and sole curse. Some of them--Suzaku being one of them--even felt sorry for her._

_Even then she knew she was taking risks. Coming to the Tokyo settlement and trailing after a boy who was being watched by both the Japanese and the Britannians was not how she would have chosen to keep a low profile. But she had been drawn to trail after the boy to school._

_It had been a while for her, but she remembered how cruel children could be._

_She watched as every carefully aimed pellet, pencil and eraser-end missed him during class. He narrowly avoided the legs stuck out to trip him and the balls kicked his way during P.E. class._

_When she finally figured it out, she almost laughed at herself for being so dense. His power was capable of self-defence, whether he liked it or not._

_Yet the_ Geass _could not save him from the dreams that plagued him every week. She shared his bed on most nights, for he could not bear to have her sleep on the street. Sometimes, she sensed them--dreams of blood and a corpse on the floor._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	9. Contracts

_November 2nd, 2022 a.t.b._

“Yes, thank you,” Lelouch said. “That would be for the best, Jeremiah.”

He ended the call and looked at the screen thoughtfully. A moment later, he dialled another number.

“Jarvis? Yes, it’s me. Can you put me through to Hiroshi? Yes, _that_ one.” A pause. “I can wait but I don’t have time for games . . . Hah, I knew you wouldn’t be very far away--”

After a few more minutes, Lelouch ended the call. 

He replaced the mobile into his pocket. He had done what he could for now. Kallen had been right when she had said that one did not cut themselves off from their former comrades. No matter how eccentric or weird they were.

_Now what next?_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_November 2nd, 2022 a.t.b._

The mess quarters of the KMF pilots were a whirl of gaiety as the men and women of the Eighth and Ninth let their hair down. This meant _immediately_ after landing in Pendragon and getting out of their Frames.

“It’s a right circus out there, no mistake,” Alonzo said, unzipping the neck of his flight suit. There was a certain amount of informality amongst pilots and Suzaku was not about to do anything about it now. 

For a lark, they had royally embarrassed Suzaku half an hour ago by forming up ranks and saluting him in a display befitting an emperor. Suzaku made a mental note to get someone--not Lelouch--to overhaul the etiquette books and ban such showy obeisances. For however long the Empire would last after this.

That evening, the Eighth and Ninth Battalion had returned from the Gulf after the relief squad turned up. The pilots in command were amongst the trusted circle of ringleaders. While it was true that Honorary Britannians were not allowed to be pilots of KMFs, it did not apply to their children’s children. Generations of Honorary Britannians from the first colonies who had merged in with the conquerors . . . It was not quite Suzaku’s idea of a paradigm shift, but Alonzo Vastrez had been one of the first who had joined him in the beginning.

“You sound like a Britannian,” Victor Tan complained. Their head engineer was a Chinese expatriate in Tokyo who had opted for Honorary Britannian status after the invasion of Japan. 

“I technically _am_ ,” Alonzo said. “More than a lot of the other second generation Britannians at any rate.”

“We are _not_ going to go there tonight,” Piotr said, brandishing a bottle of wine. “It’s the end of our tour--for now.”

“You still don’t indulge?” Alonzo asked Suzaku as the men and women of the Eighth and Ninth went for the alcohol with a will.

“Bad experiences after too many parties,” Suzaku said. He had learned it the hard way when he had been knighted. The Britannians drank socially, informally and for fun. KMF pilots did all that and more.

“That’s because you never drank when you were younger,” Victor said sagely. “You have to build up resistance from youth.”

“Maybe you’re right.” He had managed to dodge most invitations to get stinking drunk in the army, not the least because some of them were the preliminary stages before someone got cling-filmed to a lamppost buck-naked.

“It’s never too late to start,” Alonzo said cheerfully. “To the Empire! May it expire soon!”

Suzaku wondered how Alonzo could be so cheerful when his homeland would be amongst the last to be liberated--if at all.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_November 27th, 2010 a.t.b._

_In the evening after dinner, Suzaku did his homework dutifully even though he was not that fond of writing compositions and found mathematics unreasonably complicated. He finished the essay, stared at it for a moment before deciding that Angela-san would be the best person to ask about the sentence structure and grammar._

_He had gone to the living room to find her, but she had abandoned the coffee table laden with work and by the sound of things, she had gone to the bathroom for a while. This was something Angela-san did when she was feeling stressed._

_She did not smoke but she did swear in the narrow confines of the bathroom--to spare his ears, Suzaku supposed, but the walls were pretty thin. The toilet bowl had steadfastly withstood the verbal abuse despite the paint-peeling nature of Angela-san's invective and would continue to do so._

_In the living room, the cat lay on top of some of the papers littered on the coffee table, blinking contentedly beside the open laptop--an excellent source of warmth in the winter. In a fit of inspired unoriginality, Angela-san and Suzaku had both agreed to name her Tama._

_He was surprised that she had brought work back. Angela-san hated bringing work back home. Amongst the files and folders scattered on the table, he could see hard-copies of forms titled "Application for Honorary Britannian Status Form 1A--"_

_"Suzaku . . . do you need help with your homework?" Angela-san asked as she emerged from the kitchen with a drink in hand. She saw him looking at the forms and her expression changed instantly. It was the closest to upset that Suzaku had ever seen her._

_"Ah--well, I have to get those proof-read and edited by Monday," she said, shuffling the papers into a pile and unseating Tama. "Horrible, complicated things--"_

_"Can I see it? Please?" Suzaku asked._

_Angela-san looked like she wanted very much to swear. She handed him the ten-page long hard-copy after the briefest of hesitations and sat down abruptly with her drink. Sipping her tea tensely, she watched him as he read it--both the Britannian and Japanese versions of the form--and wonder if he understood it all. His Britannian was better than expected but the forms were heavy on the legalese and even the Japanese version was a chore to read._

_“What does this mean?” Suzaku asked, pointing to a paragraph._

_Setting her tea down, Angela-san put on the reading glasses that she used around the house when she was not wearing her contact lens and squinted at the papers._

_“It means renouncing your former citizenship and pledging loyalty to Britannia. Subjects of the Empire are to adhere to the laws set down by the Imperial Court of Pendragon--”_

_“What does it mean to re-renounce citizenship?”_

_“It . . . Well, it means that you aren’t Japanese any more. You’d be an Honorary Britannian and not a Japanese citizen.” Angela-san looked like she had a headache. Tama, not one to let a warm lap go to waste, climbed up to claim her place. “This a legally-binding contract to confirm that.”_

_“So what does it mean to be an Honorary Britannian?”_

_“You can work in the settlement, join the civil service, the Britannian military, most of the opportunities that . . . aren’t open to non-Britannians.”_

_“So, they’ll be like you?”_

_“Not exactly . . .” Angela-san looked him and took a deep breath. “You know what it’s like at school, right?”_

_Suzaku nodded. She did not need to elaborate._

_“Imagine all of that when you’re a grown-up. Imagine all that petty, unreasonable behaviour in people who should know better. Multiply that by all the things that adults can do, and you’ll have an idea of what the Honorary Britannians face every day.”_

_“And . . . you, Angela-san?” It dawned upon him that she did not look Britannian. In fact, she looked mostly Japanese. The irony was that she looked more Japanese than he did._

_She smiled at him and ruffled his hair because she was fond of his curls. “Don’t worry about me--you still have to survive school.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_“You’re thinking about something.” In the darkness of his room, C.C. was standing beside his bed._

_This was no longer half as unnerving as it used to be. He could sense her now whenever she was close. He knew when she would sneak into his room. It was only his current preoccupation that had kept him from looking up as his window slid open._

_He always made room for her whenever she came in--it trained him for a life of sleeping on very narrow beds._

_“C.C.?” His voice sounded a little unreal in the stillness of the room._

_“Hmm?” The witch was a warm lump under the blanket beside him._

_“What does a contract with you mean?”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_Here was the thing about being immortal . . ._

_Everything around you dies, will die or is going to die soon._

_Day after day, year after year--time passing by endlessly._

_The witch had been silent for years. Until a child had asked her--directly and to the point--what her sole curse and only gift would cost him._

_So she told him. About the Code and what she needed him for._

_Marianne was laughing at her. She could hear it._

_And from that day on, he gained the ability to walk into her world._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_December 17th, 2010 a.t.b._

_Despite his own reluctance to use it, Suzaku found himself learning about the power he had been granted a lot faster than he anticipated._

_The neighbourhood had begun to fill up and there were more children passing by on their way to school. A week ago, a young woman had gone around advertising her services as a caretaker for young children. Angela-san hired her for the night when she had to attend her department’s annual staff dinner and dance._

_Suzaku wondered why he needed a babysitter, but Angela-san was probably trying to be conscientious so he had only nodded when she gave him the news. She had also cut down on the fast food because she had read somewhere that it stunted adolescent growth. C.C. had been most put out by curtailment of her pizza supply, but she might be even more irritated by the sitter’s presence as it meant that she could not sneak in until much later._

_The sitter had permission to order in dinner. Which was a shame because they had been getting good at making one-pan stir-fry and left-over hot-pot._

_When the sitter arrived, she had three other boys in tow. She was taking care of two others and her younger brother, so if Ms. Nakamura did not mind . . ._

_Angela-san, togged up in a pirate costume for the D-n-D and running late, had no time to argue with an eighteen-year old girl._

_After dinner, the boys had asked to see his cat. Within the skin of a second, Suzaku had seen the different possibilities branching out around them. He hunted about for Tama, calling her namely loudly and generally making a racket, knowing all too well that she would ignore him and continue to nap up in the eaves._

_He shrugged and said at last that Tama must be wandering around outside. The sitter had commandeered the television and the next few hours were literally what Angela-san liked to call “Chinese water torture”._

_Suzaku had been honestly relieved when Angela-san returned home in a friend’s car. The sitter and her charges left after Angela-san paid her._

_“You look like you’ve been bored to tears,” Angela-san said, dumping the outlandish hat and sword on the sofa. Tama, coming down to welcome her home after the noisy strangers had gone away, wound around her booted ankles and purred._

_“Almost. We watched reruns of, uh,_ Bainsbury Hills 50610. _” Angela-san like to talk to him at the end of the day--it was a lot more informal than the conversations he had with his relatives. Speaking of which, he was due to visit Kyoto in a week . . ._

_“Oh you poor thing,” Angela-san said as she went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. “That should be against the law--”_

_“Has that girl been smoking in the toilet?” she demanded as she stomped out from the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Suzaku holding Tama tight against this chest despite the fact that fact that her teeth were fastened around his hand._

_Angela-san never hired the sitter again._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_Up in his room, Suzaku held onto the cat and wished he could somehow un-see that multi-faceted vision. If those boys had met Tama that night . . ._

Another day, another time. Outside. When they had come across the cat in their yard. Somewhat familiar with the children, Tama had let them pet her for a while. The vision branched--one in which the boys had gone off to play and another when they had tied a pair of tin cans to her tail for fun. Because it was what children did without thinking.

Terrified, the cat had dashed out onto the road. Right into the path of a car.

It could have gone two ways. One with the driver swerving and crashing into a tree. He would have died upon impact. The other with Tama run over, her small broken body on sprawled the asphalt.

_After the discovery of the stench of nicotine in the bathroom, Suzaku had taken Tama up to his room and Angela-san had not objected. Biting him was mostly an affectionate reflex for the cat by now and she had learned not to draw blood. Most of the time._

_He sat on his bed, hugging Tama while trying to overcome the black fear of how close he had been to losing her. How close those boys had been to causing a fatal accident. It had been too real. Something he could ever have anticipated. Nor wanted to know about. Cause and effect so neatly laid out in front of him with the additional choice attached--_

_“She’s not going anywhere--you’re almost smothering her.”_

_C.C. had come in through the window, silent as always. Other boys obviously did not have witches climbing into their rooms six nights out of seven._

_Other ten-year olds did not walk in the dreams of an immortal._

_“What is this . . . what did you give me?” he asked the witch, loosening his grip on the cat, who mewled softly but did not move._

_“The Power of Kings.” And Suzaku realised that that was not actually an answer._

_“Is it supposed to . . . do this?”_

_“I don’t know what shape of form it takes. But it is the power to change the world.”_

_“I don’t want it if this is what it does!” Suzaku said. Where was this power that night when he had confronted his father?_

_“Only you can choose how you’ll use it,” she said, extending her arm to encircle him. “I will be beside you when you do.”_

_That was all she could do for him._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_One week later, he was on the train to Kyoto to visit his extended family. Left mostly undamaged by the war, the former Imperial city still retained its antiquated air of refinement._

_Suzaku was glad it did not resemble most of Tokyo. (But that was before he found out that the Britannians had been shipping the priceless artefacts from the museums and shrines to the highest bidders.) He was also surprised when C.C. popped up in his room on the first night despite his warnings that his relatives did not subscribe to things like pizza delivery. But it made his stay a lot more bearable when he realised what was going on._

_Meals with his relative revolved around not-talking-about-his-father. Conversations with his cousins eventually turned out to be about not-talking-about-his-father. For all intents and purposes, Suzaku had no father and Kururugi Genbu had not committed suicide, resulting in Japan’s unconditional surrender._

_In their own special way, they were living in the past. The Kururugi clan were wealthy enough to maintain their accustomed way of life. The traditional house with its neatly manicured garden and the deer-scarer. The servants and the carefully arranged day-today schedules that maintained the illusion of normalcy. They probably thought they were sparing him from the shame._

_Twice a year, he would have to come back and face entire stretches of not-talking-about-his-father. Suzaku thought he might go insane one day and blurt out the fact that he had killed his father. He kept a tight rein on the_ Geass _for fear that it might activate again while he was in the presence of his relatives. He did not want to know or see the things they did in the name of their clan._

_But C.C. knew and she shared his futon with him in the house that lay a scant handful of kilometres away from his former home. She had to catch him when he had tried, while mired in the depths of a nightmare, to run outside. To go back to that house on the hill and that room with the bloodstains on the floor._

_When he came to himself, her arms were locked around him and her legs were wrapped around the sturdy support pillar beside the screen doors. The bruises on her limbs were fading away, but Suzaku could see by the state of his room that it had been a terrible struggle._

_He has been bitten too many times by Tama for him not to recognise the marks on her hands. No doubt they had been gained when she had tried to stop him from screaming and waking the entire house._

_He said he was sorry, but it did not seem quite enough as she cradled his head on her lap and held him as he cried._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_This had been . . . unexpected._

 _It was entirely random, the things that he saw with his_ Geass _. That what a person selected in a vending machine would branch off into several other scenarios involving the most mundane things at one end of the spectrum and other, less pleasant fates like getting violently mugged at the other end._

 _It got worse when he hit puberty. Something to do with the hormones, C.C. supposed. The_ Geass _was liable to activate at any time, at any place._

 _She thought that this one would be another failure. The very nature of his_ Geass _was volatile and erratic, not to mention difficult for an average person to handle. The myriad possibilities that the boy could see were only useful if he could affect them in some way. But to do that required him to choose one path over another. It was not something that a child was equipped to do. A child who no longer trusted in his own judgment._

_Especially a child who was prone violent nightmares and racking guilt over the most traumatic event in his childhood._

_She expected another Mao at the end. Another life wrecked by the effects of a power that no human should have. And she had known remorse for it, shown it in the only way she could by staying with him until the inevitable end. Unlike Mao--but there had been nothing she could have done for him . . ._

_Marianne had mocked her for her double standards._

_But he had mastered it. Somehow. The same way he had overcome the nightmares, probably. It was a remarkable feat for a teenager. Sometimes, C.C. could not even sense the_ Geass _, so well buried was it within the maze that was his mind. And when he did choose to use it . . ._

_Hope was a terrible thing for a witch after so long. And she should have known not to get involved again._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_They do not talk about it. What he sees when he walks in her dreams._

_Her world was a place of memories. And the witch had lived a long time in order to amass all those memories._

_He knew he should not be here. But after what she had told him, after she had told him that she wanted to die . . ._

_He had gone to sleep beside her as usual. More troubled than usual._

_Then he found himself walking in a place that looked like a fancy art gallery or museum. The picture and paintings . . . were not what they seemed at first. When he finally realised what they showed, he tried not to look too closely as he walked faster. This was like peeping into rooms that were out of bounds._

_He found her in front of one particular frame, looking pensive._

Hello, what are you doing here? _she asked when she noticed him._ How did you get in here anyway?

I just wanted to find you.

Oh? _She did not look angry--just bemused._

I don’t want you to die, _he said to her bluntly._

 _She smiled at him and looked back at the picture._ That’s very nice of you to say so. But being able to die is what makes you human. I am the witch because I cannot.

_But Suzaku is not nice. And neither is she._

_When a portrait of him was hung in this place, he wondered what it would show._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	10. Surrogates

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

The pilots had done their best. Some were going to have terrific hangovers the next morning, but they would all agree that it had been worth it.

At around one in the morning, Suzaku emerged from the revelry to get some fresh air. There were some things that he tried to stay away from--alcohol being one of them because it lowered his guard against the activation of the _Geass_. It had led to his reputation as a bit of a staid wallflower at parties.

But he had a few drinks with them for old times’ sake and got out before he could accidentally read the likelihood of someone getting lucky or puking in the bushes after one more drink.

At the back of his mind, he was glad that he had two full Battalions of experienced KMF pilots that he personally trusted in Pendragon. It was clinical, but he had chosen to seize the reins of power--of an Empire no less--and there was too much at stake here to be overly sentimental.

There was still the matter of Cornelia’s special package that would arrive later in the morning. He had best get back before the real storm hit. The years in the army had taught him to sleep whenever he could. 

He was near the edge of the royal gardens when he noticed that he was not the only one taking in the night air. Two pairs of amber yellow eyes regarded him from the shadows. Suzaku made a slight detour off the path towards them. “So this is where you go late at night,” he said.

Leaning against the white marble balustrade on one of the scalloped-edged terraces that connected one wing of the Palace with another was C.C. with Arthur in her arms.

“An Emperor should have guards,” she said. “I could have been an assassin.”

“You could have,” he agreed. They both knew that his _Geass_ could potentially map out the circumstances surrounding an assignation attempt--it had save his life more than once. “But it isn’t an assassination if we both agreed on it.”

“You only need to die once,” C.C. said. She passed Arthur to him. "Here, cats are supposed to be good for your blood pressure."

"When were you concerned for my blood pressure?" he asked. There certainly was a slight spike in his heart rate the moment Arthur bit him, but he was used to that by now.

"Since you've decided to become responsible for the largest Empire on earth," she replied blithely. "Don't work too hard now."

"But you always said I should work harder." That was when he had been younger. When he had walked the neighbourhood dogs and ran errands to support a witch's pizza habit. She had _looked_ at him when he had suggested that she get a part-time job at the novelty toast shop on the corner that served, amongst other things, pizza toast. Suzaku never suggested it again.

Arthur finished savaging his hand into submission and demanded to be scratched under the chin.

"All work and no play . . . will make you regret a lot of things when you get older."

"But I'm not going to get older, am I?" She had not mentioned the contract in years and Suzaku had felt remiss--she had kept her end of the bargain so far. "You'll pass me your Code and I'll grant your wish."

"Saaa . . . who knows when that will be?" She flipped her hair back and perched on the balustrade as though this was not the matter of his life and her death. "Your _Geass_ . . . is weird."

Her casual pose did not deceive Suzaku, who knew that she had been waiting for an acceptor to fulfil the contract. Waiting for years, decades . . . _centuries_. The child he had been had not comprehended the enormity of such a thing.

"I'll have plenty of time to get everything sorted out." Or it could turn out to be an eternal cycle of war. He had seen the possibilities and it made his nightmares look mild.

"You won't have your _Geass_ if you take the Code," she reminded him. She was not the only one who was failing at acting that night. "You won't be able to see--"

"Maybe it's better that I don't." The power was both a gift and a curse. That Chinese man--Mao was his name--had demonstrated that point all too well.

"Maybe." Immortality was her curse. The elephant in the room they did not talk about. She gazed out over the glittering array of lights beyond the Palace grounds--Pendragon by night was a stunning city. "Maybe you'll be forty or fifty by the time you're ready to take the Code."

He could not imagine himself at forty, much less fifty. A soldier went into battle prepared to die. Or that was the impression he got from some of the old guard in Japan. And the Britannian military when the Honorary Britannian troops were concerned.

But would he have achieved what he had set out to do? 

"Maybe you'll have children and grandchildren by then."

That prospect was all the more terrifying when Suzaku thought of the burden placed on children by their parents.

"Would you have children . . . if you were able to?" If she did not possess the Code that had rendered her unchanged since that dark day in a chapel lost somewhere in the fog of time.

The witch glanced his way before turning back to the view of the city. "I don't really know. It was expected, you know, back then. It didn't matter who you were or where you lived. Women gave birth to children and raised them. That was that."

“You would be a good mother.” 

C.C. looked down at the white marble balustrade she was sitting on, more than a little embarrassed. “You’re only saying that because I watched you grow up. I know nothing about nursing a baby or birthing one.”

A fragment of a conversation with Euphie came to mind then. "If you ever decide to have a child, would you choose Lelouch to be the father?"

For the first time in a long while, C.C. was speechless.

"Oi, don't go planning someone else's life for them before you've settled your own," she said, recovering superbly from that momentary lapse. “This isn’t over yet, _Emperor_ , not by far.”

"Just a thought."

"You can keep those thoughts to yourself, thank you very much." She glared at him. "Angela-san would have told you to keep your prying mind out of her uterus and then some."

Suzaku had, during his adolescence, fought with the erratic nature of C.C.'s gift to him. One unfortunate side-effect that had cropped up had been the paths he had seen whenever he caught sight of his guardian's boyfriends. It had been unfortunate because he had been a teenage boy, discovering hormones for the first time. He always had to bolt back to his room, red in the face because he could see just how the evening might proceed with Sousuku- _san_ or Alan or Patrick after dinner and drinks--

He had been mortified and ashamed--it was an invasion of Angela-san's privacy, intentional or not. It was embarrassing to think about that even now. Which had probably been C.C.'s original intention. Angela-san was a rather touchy topic even now.

"I'm going to pull Lelouch out of whatever dark corner he's managed to bury himself in," Suzaku said to change the subject. "Are you coming along?"

"Of course not," C.C. said, taking Arthur back from him. "I'll just ruin the mood. Arthur and I will go find some pizza. Arthur would like that, won't he? Yes, he would--"

"C.C.," Suzaku said helplessly as he watched her coo at his cat. She did that whenever she was pissed at Arthur's human. Arthur always played along, purring agreeably whenever the prospect of food was evident.

"Arthur, your human is a prat," C.C. said to the cat. "He doesn't know how to talk to girls at all. It's a miracle how he got a girlfriend--"

"C.C.--"

"Mrreeoow."

"--which means she's putting up with him and has the patience of a saint. I don't know what she would say if she knew your human was trying to set her brother up with--"

"C.C.! Euphie likes you too. And she was the one who asked you that question, remember?"

"She likes almost everyone." C.C. finally stopped talking to the cat and faced him. "She won't thank me if I gave you the Code," she said abruptly. _This was a caution. Enjoy it while you can._

And these were the thoughts that Suzaku studiedly did not think about on a day-to-day basis. He had not planned for after all of this because there was the chance that they might not survive the deconstruction of the Empire. He had not planned because there was an equally good chance of C.C. passing her Code on to him as the _Geass_ evolved. What would happen after that . . . might not be within his power to decide. Not even Lelouch knew about the final condition of his contract with C.C. --that secret he would carry alone.

"Go find your irritable miracle-worker and screw the angst out of him," she said, waving him away when he made no move to diffuse the tension. "When His Highness is in a state, he’ll let the whole world know it. Arthur and I will seek solace in pizza."

"Mrrrr," Arthur purred contentedly.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_Hey, C.C., you like Lelouch, don’t you?_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_July 30th, 2014 a.t.b._

_They said he could return to his family in Kyoto after his fourteenth birthday. The Britannians were secure in Japan--Area 11--now. Secure enough that one boy was no longer important in the grand scheme of things._

_For Suzaku, it was not just a matter of going back to Kyoto. It was returning to a life of not-talking-about-his-father and the tight feeling across his chest that felt like something waiting to explode. Explode and spill his secrets--the darkest ones--out with his poisoned innards._

_No, he could not go to them._

_There was also the remnants of Japan’s nationalist movement, clinging onto existence because the Britannian government was loathe to expand the necessary resources to hunt them down._

_He had not gone to them. Partly because he was determined to do things his way. Partly because Toudou and Kirihara knew. Also because even the Britannians knew that one boy would not make much of a difference now._

_His extended family in Kyoto had a letter detailing his decision but not his reasons for applying for Honorary Britannian status. There was no ambiguity in his language. He never heard from them again and Suzaku knew that he was dead to them._

_Angela-san deserved more than just a letter, he knew. So he had told her himself on the day when he had received the confirmation letter and waited for her to swear at him._

_She never did._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_October 1st, 2014 a.t.b._

_The hazing of new recruits was over relatively quickly. Unless one was a former Number._

_“You don’t have to put up with it,” C.C. said, toying with the last slice of pizza she had found in one of the boxes leftover from the “first day initiation party”. She had slipped in after the others had left. How she had managed to enter a guarded military facility was something Suzaku intended to find out soon--for personal reference._

_“It’s what happens when you start from the bottom. All the trainees have to go through this.” And when he was finally a private, he would have to go through the same thing. Each and every rung of the ladder was probably slippery and full of pitfalls for Honorary Britannians._

_“I don’t see anyone else doing the cleaning up.” She did mock him on occasion for being overly conscientious._

_Being the most junior recruit did not mean that Suzaku had been blind how the drawing of the straws was rigged. And he had heard them at it too._

_“I might be doing it to look keen.”_

_“Your eager recruit act is getting scary.” C.C. let the pizza slice fall back into the box. “But you’re not that duplicitous . . . You might need acting lessons.”_

_“Is that even necessary? I’m just a lowly recruit.” Suzaku continued to stack up the rubbish. He had eventually learned how to talk to C.C. without getting into a verbal battle with her._

_“You could have continued schooling, you know?” Tired of the one-sided conversation, C.C. changed the subject. “Your guardian would have wanted that sort of life for you.”_

_“I’m not the academic type,” Suzaku said, neatly avoiding any discussions about Angela-san. He could not imagine himself going through high school, university and then getting a desk job._

_“No, you would have been some soccer star or basketball rookie of the year--”_

_“That would be cheating.” Suzaku finished stacking up the pizza boxes and retrieved the last one from where C.C. was lounging._

_“You could probably have done it without the_ Geass _. I told you before, you’re not that ordinary.” Deciding that the pizza was a little too cold even for her, she relinquished the box._

_“Well, I’ll never know now, will I?” He had not meant for it to come out that way. It had been a trying day and her prodding had not made things any better._

_“You regret it, don’t you? The_ Geass _,” C.C. said in the silence that followed._

_“I don’t regret saving those people.” He had actively used that ability a few times to change the course of a life. A nudge, a push, a word in the right place was all it took to prevent a fatal accident or worse. But then who was he to decide who lived and who died like that? He had been impulsive when he had unsheathed the blade that he had sworn not to use. C.C. said that it was a chronic problem and there was no curing him of it. The impulsiveness, she meant._

_“You never liked having the power. That’s why you don’t use it.” This was a matter of contention between them._

_“Only if I use it to protect people.” The witch had told him that his ability would grow with usage. He had accepted that he would have to figure out how to use it, but even with C.C.’s help, he had been unable to extend the range of the_ Geass _outside the immediate present._

_“And you joined the army? Angela-san was right. You’ve taken leave of your senses.”_

_“You should know my mind best--right, C.C.? Am I crazy?”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_When he was fifteen, Suzaku lost his virginity to C.C. because he had, in a moment of misguided adolescent idealism, decided to make her happy by taking their relationship to a more romantic level. Rather than vigorously slapping some sense into him, she had shown him what that sort of relationship entailed and how they would never work out._

_(That had been before he had found out about Mao. And he still wondered why she had not kicked him from Tokyo to Niigata for it. She was capable of it, he had no doubt.)_

_He was grateful for that much as it redefined their compact once again. They were accomplices in an insane scheme. He would have called her a friend if he was not afraid that she would think he was getting sentimental again._

_C.C. avoided him for a while after that, saying that she felt like a cradle-robber and would he, for her sanity's sake, get a girlfriend soon?_

_He did not intend to have or start a long-term relationship--ironically another result of C.C.'s early education--but he had the odd liaisons with his peers in service. It was a soldier's way to blow off steam after months of combat training and tours of duty._

_Then after a day in August when she had visited him briefly, C.C. vanished from his life._

_Suzaku had a vague dream that night of her sneaking out of the military compound, the hail of bullets that followed and then a sudden silence that was more frightening for the fact that he could no longer sense her through the tenacious link that they had developed._

_If she had not been immortal, Suzaku would have feared for her life. But as she was virtually indestructible with her Code, Suzaku knew that the worse had occurred. She was being detained--somewhere out of his reach and abilities to contact her._

_He knew this for she had made a promise to him. She had kept it faithfully until that day._

_It was all he had to believe in for the next few months._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 12th, 2016 a.t.b._

_When the news of Angela-san’s death reached him, Suzaku had just returned from Hokkaido after several weeks of wilderness training. C.C. had been missing for almost a year and for all his efforts, he had not been able to reach her through the link they once shared. His movements were limited by his training, but he had tried to contact her every time they moved from one base to another._

_The message, dated a month earlier, was from Alan Danvers--Angela-san’s last boyfriend. It had probably made its circuitous way through all the internal security screenings and the censorship board before reaching him._

_His first thought was that if only he had been there, this would never have happened. The drunk driver would not have hit her bike if he had been there. The_ Geass _would have ensured that._

_According to the letter, it had been an instantaneous death--whatever comfort that might have been to the reader was lost on Suzaku. The pet carrier and the cat inside it had also been killed when the motorcycle had collided with the barrier wall._

_It had been Tama’s bi-annual check-up, he realised. They had been going back home after Tama’s appointment with the vet. Both of them were supposed to go with Tama--it had been a ritual._

_By the time Suzaku had received the missive, the funeral was long over and Angela-san’s remains had been shipped to her parents in Australia. She would have been happy to find out, as a registered member of the organ donation bank, that her undamaged liver had gone to a needy recipient. As though anyone cared about their livers after death._

_His second thought was_ why didn’t someone just call?

_But he was not her direct family. Only a boy who had stayed with her for a few years before leaving. He would write to thank Alan Danvers because he had bothered to inform Angela-san’s former ward about her death. It would take a while for it to make it through all the screenings._

_He was a soldier now, soon to be promoted to active duty, and the military did not allow personal communications while they were on duty or in training. Not that he had a family or close friends outside of the army. He had given all of that up when he had taken up honorary citizenship and joined the military._

_There had only been C.C. and Angela-san after that. But now, it appeared that he only had a handful of memories left._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_July 31st, 2014 a.t.b._

_She did not swear at him when he told her what he had done._

_“Are you sure about this?” Angela-san asked. “Isn’t there a law against child soldiers somewhere?”_

_She did not say anything about him becoming an Honorary Britannian._

_“I won’t be actively deployed until I turn sixteen, at least. The army does take guardianship--”_

_“What about school? You don’t even have a certificate or diploma yet!” Angela-san seemed to be concerned that he was not going to get an education._

_“That’s all right for a career soldier, I guess--”_

_“Where did you learn that term? It’s one step up from being a mercenary!” But she was hopping mad though. They were speaking Britannian--which was a much easier language to be angry in than Japanese. Every clipped syllable served to emphasise her displeasure, which was not--strangely enough--directed his way. “And you’re trying to advance a career in the_ Britannian _military?”_

 _He tried to read her with the_ Geass _then--even though he had been determined not to. If there was anything he could say or do to make it easier--_

 _Suzaku could only see the questions in her eyes._ Did I influence him in any way? Is this my doing? Where did I go wrong? What the hell is he doing?

_And it was then that he finally realised the limitation of the witch's gift._

_When looking at Angela-san, he was blind to the threads around her. What she would do. What was going to happen after he left._

_Suzaku could not see the paths around the people he was close to, for his own was entangled with theirs and his actions would inevitably--invariably--influence them._

_So he was left with only his paltry wits and stunted instincts when faced with situations and people that mattered. He almost wished that she would swear at him instead of asking him probing questions about his motivations and looking at him with worried eyes. It would have been easier--for him._

_Suzaku could hear C.C.’s voice in his head still._

The Power of Kings will isolate you . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The only way to cope with this, the witch had discovered over the long years that stretched into centuries, was to withdraw. It was not_ her _they were poking with their hard science and their equally hard tools. It was not_ her _who was trapped and separated from her designated acceptor._

If you were no-one, no-one could hurt you.

_Their methods were not so crude now. In the past, soul searching was very, very literal and invasive in the extreme. They did not believe in witches now, so there were no stakes and no racks involved. Just cold machines and their endless tests._

_In her own world, the witch waited. She could be patient for a little while longer. That_ Geass _she had given to the boy . . . might prove useful in a situation like this. It would just take some time for their paths to cross again and she did not doubt that it would be soon._

 _He would have to move soon--the_ Geass _would force him to eventually. All she had to do was wait._

_The witch had plenty of practice at waiting._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	11. Chains of Circumstance

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

He got a call the moment he stepped inside the Palace. It was not done for an emperor to tote around a mobile, but Suzaku was not about to conform at this stage. Especially when the caller ID showed a particular number known only to Lelouch and himself.

“Sorry for calling so late. I know it’s past midnight in Pendragon, but I just wanted to ask you to check on Lelouch. He didn’t pick up when Nunnally and I called two hours ago,” Euphie said. “I thought he might be with you.”

“It’s fine. I was going to look for him. It’s supposed to be his day off, but you know him.”

“Mmmm, that’s why I called you,” Euphie said. “It’s not my job to tell the Emperor when to turn in, but as a concerned sister, I get to nag at Lelouch.”

The pointed _and you too_ came over loud and clear.

“Yes, I get you,” Suzaku said.

“He doesn’t eat enough and spends too much time cooped up indoors.”

“The last time I tried getting him to exercise--”

“Oh that was a _complete_ disaster, but it was so funny.” He could hear the laughter in her tone. 

“I’m not going to try that again.” Suzaku looked around for a convenient attendant. “I’ll find Lelouch and give him your message.”

“See that you do. Good night, Suzaku, Nunnally sends her love too.”

After Euphie hung up, Suzaku called up the major-domo in charge of the Palace staff. Finding Lelouch in the Palace would probably easier than finding a witch.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 23rd, 2017 a.t.b._

_It was supposed to be a routine mission to trace a truck stolen by suspected terrorists. Then they had been briefed that the objective was to retrieve a poison gas capsule that they terrorists had taken. Confidential and top secret._

_The Hundredth and Fifty-Third Ground Battalion was comprised entirely of former Japanese Honorary Britannians. It did not bear repeating that they got the messiest assignments, ostensibly so that they could prove themselves._

_For Kururugi Suzaku, the words of his commanding officer fell into place like pieces of a puzzle. His_ Geass _had moved on its own accord to warn him that this was important. This was what he had been looking for. The sense of urgency dogged him as they set out into the warren of the Shinjuku Ghetto, driving him to move away from the others._

_It grew more persistent as he grew closer to the source. Taking a fire alarm and sticking it next to his ear would have been less blaring._

_If he was to go down this way and cut through the passageway there, he would reach the capsule before the others would. And it was imperative that he did so for it not actually a poison gas capsule. The contents were a lot more deadly, in Suzaku’s opinion._

Hey, I could hear that!

C.C.! _What he had been looking for? He had been looking for a witch._

No, the tooth-fairy! Who else did you think it was? _She sounded a little testy. The correct witch then._

_After more than a year and half, he could hear her sardonic voice in his head again._

Where have you been?

Stuck in some lab underground. Hurry up--I’ve been waiting for ages!

 _Right. Left, then right again. The torturous maze of ruined buildings eventually opened out into a larger space--and there was the truck. It looked as though it had crashed through several walls on the way down. His infra-red goggles showed that the driver was still inside the cab and the_ Geass _told him that he was mostly unconscious. There was a chance now--_

 _But there was someone else on the scene, preventing him from moving. A smaller figure was in the back of the truck right next to the capsule. Another terrorist? For this, he would have to use the_ Geass--

 _The first thing he realised was that he could not quite see the shortest way towards neutralising the youth. It was as though the_ Geass _could not track the possibilities around him. There had been only one other who had that much null space around them and that was because C.C. was bound to him by their contract, not to mention a witch. Suzaku had no choice now but try to knock the other out before he could see him--_

_The second thing he realised, as he advanced into the truck’s hold, was that the other boy was Lelouch. It had been seven years, but the alarm in his head screamed at him and pushed the image of a boy with violet eyes, black hair and fair skin to the forefront. Surprise overrode all caution and he blurted out the other’s name._

_The other boy blinked rapidly in the gloom. “S-Suzaku? You’re a Britannian soldier?”_

_It was as though seven years had not passed. This was still his oldest friend, just two seconds away from calling him an idiot._

_And he was in so much danger now--_

_Suzaku did not know if C.C. had been getting impatient or whether the proximity of his_ Geass _had triggered off something. But the capsule opened abruptly between them, spilling out some sort of fluid and one extremely damp witch before he could even say another word._

_She was trussed up in some sort of restraining suit and Suzaku leaned over quickly to undo the straps to free her. Lelouch moved to help him just as automatically as they had acted in tandem to rescue a fallen nest of baby birds all those years ago._

_“What is this? Some kind of experiment? On humans?” Lelouch asked, his anger at everything Britannian palpable even now. This was just another demonstration of how wrong Britannia’s policies were._

_Suzaku could not actually disagree with him. When he had some time after this, he would have to walk in her dreams again and find out exactly what they had done to her. Now was the present in which he had an ever narrowing window to get Lelouch and C.C. out before they were discovered._

_“It’s not safe here,” he said. “You should go.”_

_With his blinkered abilities, Suzaku could not see the paths around his oldest friend, but he knew that the_ Geass _had drawn them together. His eccentric_ Geass _had not only drawn C.C. back into the picture it seemed. And what would this lead to?_

C.C., take him with you. Get away now--I’ll meet up with you later!

_“C.C., Lelouch, if you go back down the tunnels, you should be able to escape the cordon--”_

_“You know her? Suzaku, what is--”_

_Ah, a rash slip of the tongue--C.C. sometimes despaired that he would ever learn subtlety._

_And it was then that time ran out on them. Honorary Britannians who had made it this far in military were an eager bunch. Their CO was also a demanding man who did not tolerate failure. In such a situation, when the lines between friend and foe were unclear, it was the CO’s policy to shoot first and avoid any pesky questions later._

_C.C. was already turning to run as the soldiers burst in. She had grabbed Lelouch by the wrist and was towing him away despite his protests. The darkness of the tunnels were within just reach--_

_But they could not outrun bullets. The CO was already barking out orders. Including the one that sounded like, “Kururugi, what are you standing there for, you dumb sack of shit? Open fire!”_

_All that was just background noise as the_ Geass _filled his vision with the myriad possibilities branching out from now. He certainly was not going to use his gun. There was a way for Lelouch to survive--if Suzaku chose to move. Through the_ Geass-- _like the ringing of a military-grade klaxon in his head--Suzaku was acutely aware that he stood at a point where his decision would change_ everything. _If he should choose to save Lelouch, he would set something in motion. Something larger than he could see with his limited power._

_Time was running out. And it was his move._

_But there was no actual choice here for Suzaku. There never had been. Ever._

_All this he knew within the skin of a second. Suzaku hoped that C.C. could hear him._

_He knew what she would say. He knew what Lelouch would say._

_The trajectory of the bullets could be interrupted if he was to move to the left--_

_A split second later, the truck exploded when the remaining terrorist regained consciousness and set off the detonation charge that had been planted under the engine._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I can hear you--you don’t have to shout. _Racing down into the abandoned subway tunnels with the boy in tow, C.C. could hear Suzaku loud and clear even as the staccato roar of machine gun fire echoed around them. The bullets nipped at their heels as they fled. A moment later, the truck exploded behind them, covering their escape with a blinding flash of light and smoke._

Coincidence? _The witch did not think so. Not with Suzaku’s idiosyncratic_ Geass _at work._

 _Her second though was not as charitable as his intentions became clear._ You idiot.

 _But he would live. The bullet wounds were not lethal--provided he got medical attention in time before he bled to death. Knowing his unnatural luck, the_ Geass _had preserved his life again._

_“Suzaku’s still back there! We have to go back for him!” the other boy said, trying to get loose from her grip. But he was not physically strong--C.C. could knock him out if she had to._

_“Don’t be an idiot. You’ll be killed out there--”_

_“But Suzaku--he--” His face twisted abruptly and there was a terrible look in his eyes as he looked at her. “They killed him. They shot one of their own--”_

_She wondered if she would have done as Suzaku had asked if this had not been Marianne’s son. There had been a moment when she thought that he would be killed and fate--or Suzaku’s thrice-damned_ Geass _\--had chosen to bring in the other potential acceptor she had once considered seven years ago._

_It would have been so easy then. If the circumstances had forced her to choose another acceptor--one who was so conveniently angered by the death of his best friend--_

It’s not that easy, Marianne. Kururugi Suzaku won’t go down so easily. And I’m protecting him because Suzaku asked me to . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 23rd, 2017 a.t.b._

Suzaku!

_That idiot. What had he been thinking? Joining the military forces that had invaded Japan!_

_And they had just killed him when he ignored the order to open fire and got in the way._

Got in the way? _No, that idiot had practically thrown himself into the path of the bullets aimed their way._

_As he was dragged willy-nilly down the dark tunnels by that strange woman, a cold dispassion settled over him. He had been that close to death. He had seen his friend gunned down--_

\--like that time in the Ares Palace, walking in that one terrible morning to see the corpse of his mother shielding the shaking and damaged body of his sister--

_Fresh blood. He could smell the coppery tang of it when that woman pulled him up one stairwell to the street above and found only death outside. His stomach acids churned at the sight of the bodies--_

_There were so many bodies. Newly slain bodies._

_Underground again, running again to another exit that led to another street. But as they peered out cautiously, they saw that the street above was not empty. People were turning to run as guns spat forth their deadly load._

_He wanted to shout at them. To tell them to get under cover. Any cover at all. But the runners were panicking and they did not think to duck into the alleyways and staircases to the underground. The tunnels had been built to withstand earthquakes after all--_

_That woman’s hand was clamped over his mouth as she dragged him back into the relative safety of the underground passage. But he would always remember the sight of the ghetto-dwellers being mowed down by soldiers made faceless by their helmet visors._

_The gloomy darkness covered them again and they were off, racing down the cracked tile and concrete._

_In the past, this had been an underground shopping mall linking the train station to the other buildings and streets. Now only broken glass was on sale in the broken storefronts. It crunched underfoot as they ran. Rounding the corner, they came across an old escalator. But it was not empty this time._

_They had found the terrorists. Again._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_Being shot multiple times hurt. Suzaku supposed that he was lucky that he blacked out after the bullets struck him in the right shoulder, ribs and thigh._

_But he did not lose consciousness per say. Not as normal people perceived it._

_He was outside his injured body, freed from his flesh by the power of the_ Geass. _It had worked though--the bullets that would have cut them down had found their way into his body armour and other assorted body parts._

_C.C. was calling him an idiot, so they were all right. Unconsciously, he had followed them down the tunnels. To his surprise, he was able to trace the chain of circumstance. This was the first time he had managed to work around the limitations of his ability. He supposed that it would be all right if he focused on the environment and not the people involved. In this time and this place--he had to know how the consequences now that he had used that power at such a juncture._

_His actions had not gone unnoticed._ Don’t be an idiot! You can’t leave your body like that! What if you never find your way back?

_C.C. reached out to him then, gathering him to her._

_A disorientating moment later, he was inside her world again. They were standing in front of an image of a scene that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Familiar because it was of two children--recognisably Lelouch and himself--and unfamiliar because it was from the perspective of someone who was watching them from a distance._

A stalker to the end, eh?

Well, you were the one who was looking for me _C.C. said, folding her arms._

Aa, it’s been a long ti--

Don’t you give me your _it’s been a long time_ , you repressed idiot. Not in here. _C.C. glared at him._ When you get out of the hospital, I will kick you so hard.

I missed you too _Suzaku said._ Can you show me what’s going on? Right now?

Demands, demands . . . _C.C. muttered, but the museum of her memories shifted around them._ Pizza for an entire week, when you get out of the hospital.

_Nodding absently, Suzaku looked down at the modern television screen that had appeared beside them. The scene it showed was akin to someone holding a video camera while running through the underground tunnels of Shinjuku. Occasionally, it would swivel around dizzyingly to show what lay behind. Lelouch was visible then, out of breath and being dragged along._

C.C. TV? _he asked._

That was an awful pun and you know it.

_But Suzaku found very little to laugh at as the view of the tunnels changed. C.C. and Lelouch were trying to find an exit via the disused staircases that led to the street level. One try had led to a street full of freshly dead bodies. The next--_

_Lelouch was almost as fast as C.C. as they retreated back into the subway tunnels. Away from the almost execution-style firing squad that was mowing down an assembled group of Japanese._

They’re killing unarmed people? _The sound of machine gun fire stilled echoed in the silence of her world. As though he had heard it with his own ears._

They aren’t exactly asking them to come in quietly to be rehabilitated.

_It had come to this at last. The Britannians were razing the ghetto._

The order was given probably because I escaped _C.C. said matter-of-factly._

No, of course not _Suzaku said even as his metaphorical heart sank to his metaphorical feet._ They would have used any reason to start . . . 

Ethnic cleansing. _Such an ugly term, but it was unavoidable now that the Britannian government had made its move. They did not even need a pretext like “escaped top-secret lab experiment”. All that had been holding them back had been the troublesome expenditure of manpower and energy. Now, the way was clear for further expansion of the Tokyo Settlement._

_He was, as usual, too late to do anything. Too powerless to stop the juggernaut of the Britannian military from crushing the ghetto. The only thing he had managed to do was to save Lelouch and get C.C. out--only to have them running through the ghetto at the mercy of the soldiers who had been given leave to go on a killing spree._

_Suzaku had to remind himself that it never helped to think that things could not get any worse. From what he could see on the television screen, Lelouch and C.C. had stumbled across what looked like a small gang of armed terrorists._

_In the middle of this confusing muddle of circumstances and consequences, the_ Geass _shrilled its warning at him so loudly that C.C. took a step back._

What is it? _she asked._ Another warning?

It’s coming on too strong--another one . . . _Suzaku heard himself mumble, staring sightlessly at the screen._ Oh no . . . not like that. Lelouch! Don’t!

 _On the screen representing her perception, the image wavered and flickered as his_ Geass _sought to project itself. The witch’s soft gasp was audible even to him. This was unprecedented--he was able to trace the consequences of this meeting despite Lelouch’s connection with him. Suzaku only wished that he was in the right frame of mind to appreciate it._

Have to s-stop him . . . he’s going to--

Calm down. You’re babbling. _C.C. reached out to place her hands on his head even though that sort of thing was not needed here, in this place._ Focus on the path you were following--

He’s going to kill his brother . . . and there will be no turning back after that _Suzaku gasped. The images on the screen solidified--but these scenes were not of the present. These were the possible futures, crystallising out of the events happening now. And the options were shrinking fast._

 _The witch looked at him, suddenly wide-eyed._ Do you know why you’re able to do this? It’s because you’re dying. Your body is losing too much blood and you’re already separated from it for too long.

_C.C.’s world was rapidly darkening around them--an ominous sign._

I need to stay-- _This was important. He had to see what consequences had resulted from his actions. If only he could stop Lelouch. Or see what lay beyond the blood-stained throne . . ._

 _In that moment, Suzaku suddenly saw everything all too clearly. Lelouch’s next move had been motivated by what he thought was Suzaku’s death and an attempt at recovering what could never be regained. His so-called demise had been the spark to the fuse of a powder keg of hatred that had been stored up for too long._ It’s impossible . . . it’s not going to be the same--

Do you think being discorporate forever is any fun? You need to go back. Now. _C.C. seemed to be blurring in and out of his vision._

Tell him--

_But he was fading away as his own body claimed him back, tying him down to his mortal shell once more._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_23rd May, 2017 a.t.b_

_It could have been worse._

_The terrorists holding them at gunpoint in an old subway underpass could have been ruthless nationalists. Or trigger-happy Japanese with grudges against Britannians. It was probably fortunate that these terrorists were much too busy arguing about what to do with them instead of actually shooting them. It was not so fortunate that one of them was his classmate from Ashford and they would probably have to kill him eventually to conceal her double life._

_Lelouch vaguely remembered her as Kallen Stadtfeld, the girl who had shown up for approximately one day of the new term. Any hope of him not remembering her and vice versa was dashed when she blurted out that he was Vice-President of the Student Council at Ashford. He could have cheerfully strangled her there and then if there had not been two guns trained on him and that strange woman from the capsule._

That girl . . . who the hell is she? _This particular avenue of thought yielded nothing useful no matter how many times Lelouch turned it over in his head. What was important now was surviving this catastrophic day and making it back home to Nunnally._

Nunnally . . . _How in the world was he going to tell her that he had met Suzaku again and he was dead not two minutes later? His fists clenched involuntarily. Lelouch hated being powerless. Hated that idiot for throwing his life away so easily._

 _That look on his face before the bullets hit._ That idiot. _The part of him that was not coolly floating above the morass of fear and panic was busy being in denial._

_It was easier to hate Britannia and its screwed up policies. It was easier to hate that man._

_But what could he do about it now? He had narrowly escaped from death once that day, be he did not feel cowed. In fact, it was beginning to feel distinctly like the opposite of cowed . . ._

_He looked over at the so-called terrorists. There were five of them including Kallen Stadtfeld. From what snatches Lelouch overheard of their discussion, someone’s KMF was out of commission, their leader was on the way and they were still stymied over the matter of Lelouch and the strange girl._

_This was intolerable. They could not even stage a revolt properly._

_Standing up, Lelouch marched up to the terrorists, who looked at him in surprise._

_“Oi, kid, stay put,” one of them said. “If you need to go to the toilet, you can do it in the corner there--”_

_“If you’re going to sit here all day, you might as well just walk out in front of the soldiers,” Lelouch said, “because you’re achieving the same thing by sitting down here on your asses.”_

_“What--”_

_“You don’t even have the nerve kill us both and be done with it!”_

_“Hey, we don’t kill bystanders in cold blood!” Kallen said angrily. “You’re lucky you didn’t wind up captured by the hardliners.”_

_“Don’t bother arguing with the kid,” said one of the older members of the group. “He’s just a snotty-nosed brat--”_

_“Who is telling you that a squad of octogenarian grandmothers would have ten times more fighting spirit than you lot,” Lelouch injected. “While you are hiding here, the Britannians are razing the ghetto! Take some responsibility for what you started!”_

_Kallen looked like she wanted to hit him. “We didn’t start this. Your people started it when you invaded--”_

_“But your g--”_

_“Shut up, you’re only a student,_ Buriki _bastard! What do you know?” the one known as Tamaki barked when Lelouch made to reply. From what Lelouch had observed, he was probably the dimmest of the lot. “You’re just mouthing off!”_

_“Oh?” Lelouch looked up and even the tougher insurgents were apprehensive of what they saw there. “Then I’ll prove it to you. I’ll show you a miracle.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The witch had a policy of non-interference when it did not concern her designated acceptor._

_She did not care so long as the one she had given the _Geass_ to was alive and unhurt. That they were currently the reluctant guests of a band of rag-tag terrorists who could barely tie their own shoelaces together was entirely secondary to the fact that Suzaku was being picked up by the emergency medical unit that had been alerted by the explosion of the truck. _

_It might be a little while more before she could slip away. The five Japanese who were their current captors had been just as surprised when they had rounded the corner. They did not need the burden of two hostages on top of an escalating situation. The witch was not overly concerned about what they would do to her, but there was still the matter of the boy that Suzaku worked so hard to protect._

_That boy was currently looking at her, no doubt trying to puzzle out her identity and connection with Suzaku. The truth might be a little beyond him at the moment--irony of ironies._

Suzaku might be a little more than upset if he dies down here . . .

_The boy--Lelouch--had stood up and was talking to the terrorists. Most people in his situation would not antagonise their armed captors. Perhaps he was counting on that fact to throw the terrorists off as he proposed something that made their jaws drop._

_It could get him shot. Or not. That imperious voice and the sheer arrogance in his bearing should have given them a clue--even terrorists not at home with royalty should have realised that this was no ordinary schoolboy._

_He was looking at her again, this time gesturing animatedly to the dubious terrorists, who were not hardened enough to shoot a youth for merely being Britannian in cold blood._

_After a few more minutes, the terrorists went into a tight huddle and Lelouch came over to the corner where she sat._

_“Look, I don’t know if you even understand what I’m saying,” he began, squatting down in front of her to look her in the face, “but I need your help to do something. You probably don’t want to go back to whoever it was that put you inside that capsule, so we’re going to pretend for a while--”_

But your boy is interesting too, Marianne . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 23rd, 2017 a.t.b._

_“This is insane,” Kaname Ohgi muttered as they marched right into the heart of the Britannian military command._

_“Then why are you here? Tamaki also volunteered,” Kallen hissed at him under her breath. They were dressed in the uniforms they had taken off the soldiers they had ambushed--with amazing success--at the boy’s instigation. The words had sounded like orders coming from his mouth._

_And what orders! The boy--Lelouch--had detailed out his plan, which everyone had said was just plain crazy. But he had also said that they had a chance at stopping the razing of the ghetto. The Britannians were set on clearing out the Japanese by force and if they stayed put, they would be wiped out as well._

_Put that way . . ._

_People who had nothing to lose could afford to take risks. When Ohgi had heard that they had a problem, he had personally come down after hiding his KMF in the ruins of the subway tunnel nearby. The situation had spiralled out of control after that._

_The school teacher in him was against Kallen fighting in her brother’s place. It was even more against another student--a Britannian student no less--directing the operation. But no-one else had any better ideas and there was something about the boy that made them uneasy. He was too young to be so ruthless. Yet the hatred within him had been apparent even to Tamaki. Real enough for at least two of them to agree to his insane plan. He only needed two people, the boy had said. Plus the green-haired girl._

_“There will be more surprises before the day is out, I promise you this,” the boy called Lelouch had said. He had also said that they were free to shoot him anytime if his plan did not appear to be working. It was unnerving._

_It still did not explain why the three of them were disguised as soldiers and escorting the strange girl in the restraining suit right into the hands of the Britannians. Only the slender promise of a miracle had led them to this pass._

_Kallen and Lelouch could pass as junior foot soldiers provided no-one asked them to speak or raise their visors. Ohgi, being the one most able to look and sound like an experienced soldier, had the lion’s share of acting to do._

_He ripped off a salute to the most senior officer in sight when they encountered a squad on patrol around the command centre._

_“State your business!”_

_“Yes, sir--we were told to report to the Prince directly. It’s top secret--Level Alpha,” Ohgi said, reciting the script Lelouch had prepared. “Our orders were regarding the recovery of the capsule.”_

_The officer sneered at him in a very genteel fashion and reached for his communicator. “We’ll see what high command says about that . . .”_

_A short conversation later, the officer looked suitably deflated and Ohgi felt giddy with relief as he did not order his men to shoot them on the spot._

_“High command needs to speak to you,” the officer said, looking slightly more respectful as he handed over a handset._

_Trying not to swallow in his nervousness, Ohgi placed the receiver to his ear. Lelouch had predicted even this. “This is Team Omega-alpha-two reporting in, sir. We picked up a distress call from the Hundredth and Fifty-Third Battalion. The CO said that the capsule opened but they recovered that.”_

_Ohgi held his breath. This was the final test . . . If it worked, they were in. If it did not work, the end would be coming a lot faster than the one coming to them if they stayed in the Shinjuku ghetto._

_“By that do you mean a girl? Slightly built? Green hair?” the man on the other end barked urgently. He sounded like a high-ranking officer who had too many things on his mind. “Don’t mention any details! Just reply yes or no!”_

_“Yes, sir!” Ohgi let out the breath he had been holding._

_“Listen carefully, you are to bring that here to the command centre at once and make sure that no-one else sees her,” said the high-ranker. “Avoid contact as much as possible. On my orders and the Prince’s.”_

_“Yes, sir!”_

_“Put Lieutenant Crossley back on.”_

_“Yes, sir.” Ohgi turned to the Britannian officer. “It’s for you, sir.”_

_The Lieutenant took the receiver and stiffened as orders were relayed to him. “Yes, sir--I understand, sir . . . ”_

_With the harried look of someone who had just been passed a very important burden, the Lieutenant started snapping out orders. “You are to proceed to command HQ. General Bartley Asprius’ orders! We are to escort you there post-haste. Squad, form up! Shields up!”_

_The foot soldiers presented their riot shields and formed a wall. The quartet were surrounded and hustled away behind the shield wall. They were smoothly passed onto the inner circle of defences, behind which the armoured bulk of the command centre sat like a squat metallic toad, overseeing the battlefield--if it could even be called that._

_The reinforced hatch of the mobile command centre was opening when they approached and they were waved forward without question. A stout man with the epaulets and tabs that signified a general hurried to meet them. Remembering his cues, Ohgi saluted the general and tried to act as though this sort of thing was commonplace._

_Their escort was stripped away quickly and they were ushered to the upper level. Along the way, the general barked out questions._

_“Did you speak to anyone en route? Did_ she _say anything?”_

_“Only the Lieutenant--Crossley. No, sir. Not a word, sir.” Secrecy was paramount--the entirety of Lelouch’s plan hinged on the prince’s desire to keep this matter under wraps._

_“Good, good,” the general muttered distractedly, toggling open another door. “You’ll have to watch her until we can get another containment unit here. Your Highness, the recovery was successful!”_

_The man seated on a dais at the hub of the command centre on the other side of the door was Clovis la Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11. He was an attractive man by Britannian standards, but he did not appear as polished as he usually did on the video broadcasts. The obvious look of relief that crossed his face when they entered with their important captive only accentuated the haggardness that seemed to haunt his features._

_“Thank goodness!” the prince said, getting up from his throne-like chair._

_“Please remain where you are, Your Highness,” Bartley implored, waving Ohgi and the others into the corner next to the door. “It’s best if you avoid contact with the subject. This will only be temporary until the containment unit arrives.”_

_“Bartley, make sure no-one saw them and instruct the escort that this was just a routine prisoner recovery,” the prince said, his voice sounding a lot shriller than it usually was in the news broadcasts. He must have been overly anxious and more highly-strung than his demeanour let on, for that last order only left two other guards in the chamber with them as the portly general bustled to obey._

_“Do this job right and there could be a promotion in it for you,” Bartley hissed at them as he hurried out. “Just make sure she stays put and doesn’t speak to anyone. Or touch anyone.”_

_“At ease, men. A commendation will be in order . . . provided you exercise discretion,” the prince said, seating himself again. “Nothing of this will leave this place and you will not discuss this even amongst yourselves.”_

_It would be Clovis’ final order, for Lelouch shot one of the guards while reaching for the privacy lock on the doors. The odds were even better than Lelouch had predicted. His original projection had factored their entry into the command, but being brought into the presence of the Viceroy was an added bonus._

_In accordance to the plan, Ohgi squeezed his trigger before the other guard could react. Kallen had been tasked to cover them both and keep an eye on the other Britannians in the vicinity--namely the Viceroy._

_In the space that it took to kill the guards, said prince had not moved. Only his mouth moved, lips opening and closing soundlessly as though he could not believe what was happening. Ohgi knew what he felt. He had agreed to do the shooting so that Kallen would not have to do it. It was bad enough that she had already shed blood on the battlefield, but this was something else altogether._

_“Prince Clovis, I believe you have something to say to your men,” Lelouch said smoothly. There was no deference in that tone as he levelled his gun at the prince._

_The sense of surrealism did not seem to let up as the boy prodded Clovis to order the ground troops to withdraw and call off aerial surveillance. He shot furtive looks at Kallen from under his visor and realised that she too was looking from him to Lelouch and the prince. Throughout it all, the green-haired girl in the white suit just stood there . . . and watched as though she was a spectator well-removed from this scene._

_“There, are you satisfied with that?” Clovis asked as he turned the communicator off. He had regained a certain degree of composure during his ordeal and Ohgi was afraid that he would summon the guards in by pressing the emergency alarm. But Lelouch had other ideas._

_“That’ll do for now, Clovis. You always were one for pompous speeches,” Lelouch said, doffing his helmet and shaking out his hair._

_Ohgi froze--this was not in the plan. But like Kallen, he could only watch as Lelouch knelt on one knee before the dais that Clovis sat upon._

_“I have returned, my brother.”_

_“L-Lelouch?” Clovis jerked forwards, eyes widening in disbelief. “Lelouch! It is you! We thought you were dead! Th-this means Nunnally is alive too? Are you both all right?”_

_The impossible had happened. Ohgi felt the cold sweat that had accumulated in the past hour turning to ice as the prince’s words chilled him to the bone. This was larger than anything he had ever expected. And he should have realised that there were not that many seventeen-year old Britannian boys called Lelouch running around Japan._

Lelouch vi Britannia . . . _the lost prince._

_Kallen might have been too young to remember, but Ohgi recalled the newspaper reports of the royal siblings who had come to Japan under the polite fiction of being foreign students. Everyone knew that they were political hostages and when the war broke out, no-one was surprised that Nunnally and Lelouch vi Britannia had been killed._

_Apparently everyone had been wrong._

_“Indeed,” Lelouch said, rising to his feet, but still holding the gun at the prince--his brother. “My sister is well, thank you for asking.”_

_“This is wonderful!” the prince said, but even Ohgi could detect the slight note of hysteria in his voice. “We can go back to the homeland together!”_

_“I have to decline, Clovis,” the younger prince replied. “But you will do me the courtesy of confessing your involvement in my mother’s death.”_

_“What? Lady Marianne--no, I had nothing to do with that!” Clovis said. “I was only sevente--”_

_“You and I both know that scheming has no age restrictions in Britannia. Out with it or I will shoot you--”_

_“Lelouch--I’m your brother!” Clovis protested. “We may have diff--aaagggggghhh!”_

_Like Kallen, Ohgi had jumped when Lelouch had fired. But he had not been aiming to kill. Clovis was staring fixedly at the bullet hole in the seat cushion between his knees._

_Lelouch’s voice gave no hint that he was speaking to a blood relative. “The next bullet will be aimed at your kneecap, so help me if I miss--”_

_“I had nothing to do with it! You have to believe me!” Clovis in a state . . . was not very attractive at all. The dark stain that was spreading along the seat of his trousers from his crotch was evidence that the prince had momentarily lost control of himself. “Schneizel was ordered to take charge of the investigation by our father! And--and I think Cornelia might have been investigating it on her own . . .”_

_“Is that all?”_

_“Yes, you have to believe me!” Clovis repeated. “Please, Lelouch, let’s just go home and leave all this behind--”_

_“Leave all what behind? The bodies of the people you killed to hide your little secret?” Lelouch jerked his chin at the green-haired girl. “Experiments on humans, brother? You’re deathly afraid of getting caught . . . In fact, this is the sort of thing you could be banished for--”_

_“I--I can explain--”_

_“Spare me. Science was never your strong suit,” Lelouch said dismissively. “This is probably some half-baked scheme to make our father take notice of you. Still trying to one-up Schneizel, hm?”_

_“But it’s not half-baked! Lelouch, I’ll share the credit with you--”_

_“Clovis, stop this distasteful display. I am not interested in having anything to do with this,” Lelouch said. “However, please do me one last favour and give this message to Britannia.”_

_“What mes--”_

_Two quiet pops from the gun was all it took. Kallen made an involuntary noise and Ohgi swallowed back bile as Clovis la Britannia, Imperial Prince and Viceroy slumped backwards. At this range, even a scrawny boy like Lelouch could not miss his target. But this was no boy, Ohgi realised as he tore his gaze away from the bloodstains on the wall_

_“That this is only the beginning,” Lelouch said, lowering his gun. “The beginning of the end for Britannia.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Oh, he’s very interesting, Marianne . . . but how far can he go before he too desires the Power of Kings?

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	12. High Costs of Living

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

Sometime around two in the morning, Kallen shuffled out of the bathroom of the moderately opulent suite she shared with Kaguya. As a part of the security detail, she was supposed to stick close to her charge, but Kaguya had told her that Lelouch would probably have the security wrapped up tighter than a fly’s arsehole, pardon her French. Knowing Lelouch, she was probably right.

The suite was large enough for Kallen to have her own bedroom and bathroom. It reminded her of her father’s mansion with its high ceilings and wide windows--alien and familiar all at once. She attributed her restlessness to the excitement of Japan’s impending independence and the strangeness of the surroundings. A cramped berth on the _Ikaruga_ or a shared room in one of their safe houses had been the norm for her. She could even nap in the Guren if she had to.

But it was all changing. She had been discussing about getting a flat with her mother--

A tap at the balcony doors drew her out of her thoughts. Kallen could see C.C. through the glass.

“I saw the light in your room,” she said by way of explanation when Kallen opened the door to let her in. The green-haired woman surveyed the room and headed for the bed, flopping down on the covers. Arthur followed on her heels, sniffing the edges of the sheets critically before settling on a pillow.

“Make yourself at home,” Kallen joked. “Don’t you have your own bed to go back to?”

“Maybe I don’t want to sleep in it.”

“You didn’t even bring your stuffed thingy--”

“You didn’t like Cheese-kun,” C.C. said.

“Well, yeah--back when we were crashing in safe-houses, I used to wake up and see that _thing_ in front of my face--”

“--and you’d scream,” C.C. finished. “That’s why I didn’t bring him.”

“Oh,” Kallen said. She was not really up to puzzling her way through C.C.’s cryptic statements at this time of the night. “Uh, so if you’re going to stay--”

“The bed is big enough for two,” C.C. said, shifting to one side.

“Oh.”

There had been a time, when C.C. had been attached to the Black Knights after the events of the SAZ. Attached specifically to Kallen while she had been in hiding. It had been a confusing, terrifying time as they faced pursuit and capture at every turn. Not as glamorous as it sounded.

But Kallen had learned one thing that she was sure even Suzaku did not know. C.C. did not actually like to sleep alone. Cheese-kun was a substitute for the warmth of a flesh and blood companion.

The second thing was . . . C.C. seldom made allowances for anyone.

“Hey, are you going to sleep?” Kallen asked, reaching down to touch a strand of vibrant green hair. C.C. did not move away, so that was a good sign. Emboldened, she stroked the soft skin of the other woman’s neck.

“Are you sure?” C.C.’s large golden eyes blinked slowly at her as she leaned into Kallen’s hand.

Kallen shucked off her oversized nightshirt. “I wasn’t sleepy anyway.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 23rd, 2017 a.t.b._

_It was not what she expected._

_Kallen had accompanied the other student, Lelouch, back to the Settlement as she was due to return home. There was another reason--Ohgi and the others needed her to keep an eye on him. The boy was . . . either an incredible find or an incredible liability._

_She still remembered how her hands had been shaking while clamped around the stock of the military-issued rifle. The prince--Clovis--had died with an expression of utter bewilderment mingled with fear. Killed by his own brother._

Half-brother. _Also a prince and her classmate._

_Who had calmly holstered his gun and gone around to the back of the dais. Ohgi managed to move and gingerly approached the body of the Viceroy. He did not touch the corpse but the look he gave her when he raised his head told Kallen that it was real. The Viceroy was dead._

_The boy that Kallen had only vaguely known as Vice-President of the Student Council had been bustling around the back wall behind the dais and with a soft exclamation of satisfaction, he did something and a portion of the decking slid aside. There were always secret exits in vehicles or crafts carrying royalty, he had told them casually. In case of emergencies and the odd assassination attempt._

_The irony of it all did not escape her as they slipped down into the hole in the decking. It led to a hatch on the underside of the mobile command centre. Once outside, there had been a sewer grate not three metres away. Moments later, they had lifted the grate and were running down the sewers to rendezvous with Tamaki and the others._

_It had been almost unreal. They had got away with it so easily. A victory like this should not have been so . . . easy._

_But it had not been easy. It had not been cheap. The ghetto inhabitants had paid the price in blood. Kallen had lost her brother in the struggle for independence two years ago. Fighting a losing war was not easy. And yet this boy who was barely older than she was had stepped in and made it look almost effortless._

_They had been so focused on their escape that it was only much later that they realised that the green-haired girl had slipped away sometime during their flight. Lelouch had been somewhat put out by the sole factor in his plans that he could not control. In the end, Ohgi has said that they would keep an eye out for her. If she was an escapee from some hush-hush experiment, well, then all the better to discredit the now-dead prince with._

_It was unnerving, how the boy could talk like that after killing his brother. Half brother. Lelouch Lamperouge--vi Britannia--had the ruthlessness that they lacked. That fact alone was galling. She had lost Naoto to the Britannians, and yet . . ._

_What had that boy lost to inspire so much hatred?_

_Which was why it was both surprising and not so surprising when he led her back to Ashford Academy where his sister was waiting for him._

_“It’s pointless to hide since you know who I am already,” he had said on the way back, looking like normal Britannian students in their uniforms. Kallen had flushed, wondering if their intentions had been that obvious from the start._

_She had not expected the blind girl in the wheelchair. But she should have, from what she had heard that day. People had reasons to fight. For some, it was for the ideal of nationhood, for others, a sister and a mother._

_Nunnally had asked her to stay for supper. Feeling very much like an intruder, Kallen had declined, giving the excuse that she had to get back home before her curfew ended at eleven. As though her step-mother had any say in what she did._

_She reported to Ohgi and the others before going home to her father’s house. There would be much to discuss before they would accept the rest of what Lelouch had proposed._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 23rd, 2017 a.t.b._

_Lelouch knew that they were still wary of him. Which was why he had shown Kallen and Ohgi what he was capable of. Who he really was and what he was willing to do._

_They thought he did not understand Japanese. Jabbering away at top speed, they had argued amongst themselves for the longest time about the need to take risks. Lelouch had learned the language when he was ten and he never lost the ear for it. There had been a name mentioned more than twice by both Kallen and Ohgi--Naoto. A relative or a loved one? He was obviously important to the two of them and because he had died fighting the Britannians, they continued to honour his cause._

_At Ashford, Kallen’s eyes had softened noticeably when she had been introduced to Nunnally. An older brother then. He had made progress with her. Kallen would understand the need for revenge and the desire to protect what was important. He did not need to lie in order to be believable. Now he had to rope them in with incentives . . ._

_Kallen had excused herself after picking up copies of the homework that she had presumably came for. They would be contacting him soon, giving him time to work out the kinks in his proposal._

_“Was that your girlfriend, brother?” Nunnally asked after Kallen had left and they had sat down to their supper._

_“Well, no,” Lelouch said, caught off guard. “Just a classmate from school. She missed a lot of work, so I was just passing it to her.”_

_“If you say so, brother. It’s nice to meet more of your friends.”_

_Lelouch looked fondly at his sister. “It’s not as though I’m a recluse, you know? Have some more asparagus.”_

_“Mmm, but . . .” Nunnally hesitated for a second, her fork halting halfway to her mouth. “It’s not the same . . .”_

_“Not the same as what?”_

_“It’s not the same as the kind of friendship that you had with Suzaku.” Nunnally turned her head towards him as the sound of cutlery on bone china ceased abruptly. “I’m sorry, brother, I didn’t mean to upset you by--”_

_“It’s nothing,” Lelouch gasped. “J-just choked on something--excuse me--”_

_“Are you all right?”_

_Brushing past a concerned Sayoko, he hurried to the bathroom as the events of that impossibly long day came back to him in a rush._

_Clovis_ \--Suzaku--

_Lelouch only just made it to the bathroom before his stomach forcibly rejected the fillet of sole and fresh greens that Sayoko had prepared._

_Bent over the toilet, Lelouch took a deep breath to steady himself as the remains of his dinner were flushed away._

_His first kill._

_He would not justify it by saying that Clovis had it coming. Clovis was a_ message. _Clovis was the symbol of how far he was willing to go. If it had been one of them, one of his many siblings who had engineered his mother’s death, the ties of blood would not hold him back._

_And if he had the chance to save Suzaku, he would have done it all over again without hesitation. Pulled the trigger and damned himself all over again._

_Washing his hands in the sink, Lelouch tried to blank his mind so that the enormity of his self-appointed quest did not overwhelm him._

_He had just started a war. Against that man. Against the Emperor and the might of the Britannian Empire._

_The tremors that caused his hands to shake soon faded and he was almost ready to go back to the table. There would be more deaths on his hands soon. He had no doubt that that resistance cell would contact him. Fortunately, he thought as he dried his hands, the next day was Saturday--there would be time for him to regroup before facing them again._

_As things stood, he had already committed himself. There could be no turning back now._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 24th, 2017, a.t.b._

_The world was a haze of pain and darkness when he was semi-conscious. When he was under the anaesthetic, there was just darkness. The anaesthetic . . . was helpful._

_The one other side effect of the_ Geass _was painfully accelerated healing. It was as though it showed his body the quickest shortcut to mend itself and his cells tried to follow the directions in a thoroughly slavish manner. Humans were not supposed to regenerate cells and re-grow bones at that speed. Suzaku had learned this the hard way when he had broken his ankle on a school field trip at age eleven. Everyone thought he had sprained his ankle by the end of the day because his bones had knitted together by then. He had been trying not to yell throughout the whole ordeal because it had been excruciating._

_Suzaku had asked C.C. how she dealt with it when she came back from death on a regular basis. She told him that blacking out helped a lot._

_The witch was no stranger to near death experiences. It was all pretty new to him though. Blacking out_ really _helped when his ribs knitted._

_Floating weightless and adrift in the limbo of his own subconsciousness, Suzaku knew he had something to do. Something important. So he had to wake up--_

Wake up.

_He opened his eyes. A familiar room. His father’s study. The place of his memories was not a comforting place. He did not like to return to it, but it was one of the ways C.C. could contact him. It was how she kept an eye on him most of the time while he was in the military--a compromise he had accepted because of their compact._

You’re alive. _The witch was perched on the sofa by his head._

What day is it? And where am I now? _He sat up, wincing from the remembered pain of his injuries._

It’s been one day since you were shot. And you’re in the Merton Base Military Hospital.

Lelouch? Did he--

He made it out after killing his brother. And I’m fine, thanks for asking.

_Suzaku was in no mood to banter. He got up and started to pace. It was done then. The chain of events had been set in motion._

_She watched him idly from her perch._ Are you upset? Angry? Worried?

I didn’t want any of this to happen. _He had to avoid the bloodstain on the floor._

You didn’t let it happen. Don’t blame yourself for things outside your control.

I don’t want to fight him, C.C.--he was my best friend.

Was, huh? _The witch looked speculatively at him._ Are your goals so different?

He wants to destroy the Empire, C.C., and I’m afraid he will do anything to achieve it. Regardless of the cost.

Hmmmm . . . _Cocking her head to one side, C.C. pretended to think._ That doesn’t sound like anyone else I know at all . . .

I didn’t say I wanted to destroy the Empire--

You might as well be. The Britannians won’t let go of all that Sakuradite without a fight.

_Which was why he had thought of getting a foothold in the system in order to work his way up to a point when he could actually change Britannian policies regarding Area 11. But he was too slow. With Clovis’ death, a new Viceroy would be appointed. It did not bode well for the native resistance and the Japanese in general. The events of the previous day had set off something much too big to be contained. And Lelouch was right in the middle of it._

C.C., could you do me a favour?

 _She sighed after he told her what he wanted her to do._ You know you already owe me a lot of pizza.

So you’ll do it then?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 25th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Lelouch allowed himself to wake up exactly one hour later on Saturday morning. It had been a tiring Friday and he would need to be focused if he was to put his plans into action._

_Said plans were abruptly derailed when he went for breakfast. Sayoko always reliably made breakfast for himself and Nunnally before going for her day off. Weekends were usually stay-at-home days for the Lamperouge siblings._

_But that morning, there was someone else at the dining table with Nunnally._

_“Good morning, brother,” Nunnally said enthusiastically. “This is C.C.--she came by to give us news! You won’t believe this, but she’s Suzaku’s friend and he asked her to find us--”_

_Taken back by surprise, Lelouch stared at the green-haired woman from the previous day. She stared back, sipping Earl Grey from her tea cup as though there was nothing amiss._

_“But--but how--look here,” Lelouch said, rapidly trying to sort all of this new information out. Nunnally should not have let a stranger in so easily. “I don’t know who you are, but how do we know you are who you--”_

_“You used to play in a small cave when you were ten years old. Your secret base,” she said._

_“How do you know that?” Lelouch blurted out._

_“Suzaku tells me everything. I’m his most important person,” the woman informed him without batting an eyelash._

_Then the most pertinent fact occurred to him. “But Suzaku is--”_

_“Hospitalised at the moment. An accident, they’re calling it.” The woman called C.C. was watching his reaction very carefully. “Friendly-fire, I believe is the term in the military.”_

_Of course they would call it that. But that meant that Suzaku was_ alive _\--_

_“He’s on the mend, but I thought it would be best if you knew about it. He doesn’t have any close friends or relatives . . . here in Tokyo.”_

_No, his kin would not have approved of him becoming a soldier in the Britannian military--which meant that Suzaku had opted to become an Honorary Britannian first. The Kururugi clan would never have stood for that._

_“That’s terrible,” Nunnally said. “I know we’re in--I mean, should we go visit him?”_

_“Suzaku has told me about your . . . situation. You shouldn’t do things that would put your cover at risk,” C.C. said. “Maybe he’ll come visit you when he’s discharged . . .”_

_“Suzaku told you a lot of things.” Lelouch was feeling out of his depth and seriously discomfited by that woman’s stare. It was . . . not something he was accustomed to._

_“Of course--I am more than a friend,” C.C. said. “We have made a pact with each other. I won’t leave his side.”_

_“Oh I’m so happy for Suzaku! Isn’t it nice that Suzaku has found his special person?” Nunnally exclaimed. “And she came all this way to find us too.”_

_The emotion Lelouch was feeling at that moment was not exactly jubilation. He was glad that Suzaku was all right, but this--_

_“Indeed, I apologise for doubting you, but we have to be careful. For instance, Ms C.C., how did you find us?” Lelouch asked._

_“My brother is a little paranoid,” Nunnally said to their visitor. “I hope you don’t mind.”_

_“Not at all. I understand the need for secrecy. Please call me C.C. and dispense with the formalities. We can discuss this in further detail if you wish.”_

_“Privately? Certainly. Nunnally, please excuse me, I’m going to borrow your guest for a moment . . .”_

_“All right, brother, but you’ve got to make sure she eats some more of the pancakes Sayoko made afterwards.”_

_Nodding and assuring his sister that he would be a good host, Lelouch steered C.C. out of the dining room and into his bedroom._

_“My, so forward,” the woman said as he locked the door. “Do you always bring girls into your bedroom five minutes after meeting them?”_

_“That’s not relevant! Now explain to me just what is going on,” Lelouch demanded. He was pissed off enough that her innuendos did not rattle him._

_“Say_ please _.” She laughed at his expression. “Suzaku was right about you. You lose all your manners whenever you get flustered.”_

_“Who are you and what you--”_

_“I am C.C. and that’s all you need to know. I’m not going to expose you and I really am Suzaku’s accomplice.”_

_“Accomplice in what?”_

_“Ah, for that, you need to ask him yourself,” C.C. said in a maddeningly casual tone. “I am just a messenger. And I do need a place to stay until Suzaku gets out of the hospital.”_

_“Why do you--oh.” If she was fleeing from the Britannians, she could hardly hang out at the military hospital where Suzaku was. But what was her relationship with Suzaku? And what did the Britannians want with her? The only way he could find out, Lelouch realised with growing dismay, was to let her stay with them._

_But Suzaku was alive. That was the important thing. Suzaku was alive and there was a mysterious woman who was both connected to him and the research Clovis had been doing. He could handle this. He would get to the bottom of this and put in motion his plans for that rag-tag resistance group._

_“Nunnally, guess what? C.C. will be our guest for the next few days,” Lelouch said afterwards with the cheerfulness he did not actually feel. He hated lying to his sister, but this was for her protection at once. They were at risk of exposure now because of that woman._

_“Oh that’s wonderful!”_

_“But she didn’t bring any luggage. Can she borrow some of your clothes? You are almost the same size and with some alterations, it might work.” That woman was still in the white restraining suit from yesterday. It would raise too many difficult questions, Lelouch knew._

_“Of course! Come with me, C.C.!”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 26th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Lelouch gave the resistance group a maximum of three or four days. They replied in two and a half._

_“Meet us at the appointed location and time,” Kallen whispered in passing as she slipped him a note while passing him a stack of notes in class._

_Tucking the note away while pretending to pay her no mind, Lelouch knew that it was only a matter of time. He would bait the hook and wait. It was good that at least one thing was going his way._

_That woman--C.C.--was lying low at home. Nunnally thought she had a new friend, but that woman had a way of deflecting questions or simply not answering. Lelouch would rather not make any assumptions so soon when they essentially knew nothing about her. What he had to do was to find Suzaku and get the truth out of him. Suzaku had never been good at lying._

_But first, there were things he had to do . . ._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_In the space between dreams, she came to him again in the place where the past intersected with the possible future._

Hey, your friend sews. Or just does good alterations. _C.C. pirouetted, pleated skirt flaring out around her hips. She was wearing a very smart white blouse with a red and black plaid skirt. It was not real--only her physical memory of her clothes._ He also cooks. Rather well, actually.

_Yes, Lelouch could do all of that. Or he had learned to do so with a greater degree of skill than his ten-year self. Survival skills gleaned from taking care of Nunnally all these years. At least that had not changed._

So you’ve met him--

I’m staying at his place. It’s nicer than the last room I had in the ghetto, and that pokey room above the old warehouse . . . _C.C. had made her own arrangements when he was with the military, a fact she pointed out to him whenever she wanted pizza._

So you’ve found someone new to sponge off. _Suzaku honestly felt sorry for Lelouch. C.C. could be extremely . . . hard to maintain when she was freeloading._ Does that mean you won’t be bothering me anymore?

What? After I told them I was your most important person? _C.C. tossed her head airily._ After sharing everything with me for all these years?

You told them what? _Suzaku looked up in alarm._ You’re going to give them the wrong idea--

What? That we were lovers? That’s not very far away from the truth, isn’t it? _C.C. smiled at him mischievously._ And it goes deeper than that, doesn’t it?

You didn’t tell them about that as well! _Suzaku almost choked--figuratively--on the very idea of C.C. sitting down to tea with Lelouch and Nunnally, casually discussing every intimate detail of his life. It had been a bad idea to entrust the witch with this after all--_

Am I not the only reason that you’re alive? _She was no longer smiling._

_Their contract was a far more binding than a simple promise, he knew. His life was no longer his to throw away. They did not talk about that very often, if at all._

Aa, that’s true. But you didn’t have to tell them that much--

Your friend already thinks I’m hiding something from him. I had to tell them something so that he would let me stay or even talk to his sister. All the better to watch them. _That had been the favour he had asked of her. She had wrangled herself into the best position to observe Lelouch and Nunnally._

 _Suzaku admitted that she had done her best._ All right then. So what is going on?

Nothing yet. He’s planning . . . something. His primary contact with the resistance group is a girl from his class _C.C. reported, ticking the points off her fingers idly._ He knows you’re alive and he’s been trying to pry information out of me.

Good luck to him. He’s . . . Is he all right?

If you meant to ask if he’s healthy and unhurt, then yes, he’s fine. He could stand to eat a little more, but that would be a waste if he throws up every time after a kill. _C.C. knew what he had been looking for. Some sign that the old Lelouch was still there._

_Suzaku did not realise that he had been holding his metaphorical breath until that moment. That much had not changed. Lelouch was still fiercely protective of Nunnally. And a part of him was still that prince from seven years ago who flinched at the very idea of killing caterpillars._

_It still did not change the fact that he had killed his half-brother._

This is just a guess, but I think he will try to find you again _C.C. said offhandedly._ After all, he still thinks of you as his best friend.

So do I. _He hoped so._

Try not to get yourself killed again, hmm? _This was her way of reminding him._

Aa, I’ll try not to _he replied fondly._ Don’t torture Lelouch too much.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The witch had seen a lot of things in her time, but she had never known two potential acceptors in such close proximity. Or two such obviously clashing personalities on a collision course._

_It had happened before, of course._

_C.C. wondered if there was enough time to get clear before the explosions--both metaphorical and literal--happened._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 27th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Four days after his near death experience as a result of “friendly fire”, Suzaku was conscious and pretending that his ribs and thighbone had not mended abnormally quickly. It would be giving undeserved credit to the body armour--at least one generation out of date--supplied to the units comprising of Honorary Britannians. The standard joke was the only difference between military-issued body armour and toilet paper was that you could wipe your arse with the toilet paper._

_Suzaku was on an IV drip, but due to the ridiculous rate at which his body consumed metabolites to mend itself, he was ravenous and unable to request for a lot of real food without letting the nursing staff know why. At times like this, he wished C.C. was around to call the food delivery services for which she had the numbers memorised or on speed-dial._

_It was past noon and his daydreams of solid food were interrupted by the sudden mental noise of the_ Geass _reawakening. It was loud enough that it drowned out his stomach. Sitting up carefully, Suzaku looked around the ward. The other three seriously injured but not critical soldiers sharing the room were mostly out of it and none of the nursing staff were present--_

_The door of the ward opened and a uniformed Britannian soldier stepped in. Only it was no soldier._

_“Lelouch, what are you doing here?” he whispered. He had been half-expecting it, but reality usually took him by surprise. For one thing, he had not expected Lelouch to seek him out in here of all places._

_Glancing around cautiously, Lelouch assured himself that the other occupants of the ward were safely unconscious before moving to Suzaku’s bedside. “I came to find out if that woman was telling the truth. You’re alive--”_

_“C.C.?”_

_“So it is her real name?”_

_“It’s what she calls herself,” Suzaku said, dodging the actual question. “What are you doing walking into a Britannian military hos--”_

_“To make sure you’re alive, dummy.” The look of relief on Lelouch’s face was all too real. “I saw you . . . you were shot--”_

_“Not in vital areas,” Suzaku said. It was not a lie. If the bullets had scored direct hits on his lungs, liver, heart or brain, he doubted that his body could recover from that sort of damage. “Look, the doctors and nurses make hourly rounds through the wards and it’s almost time for them to check in here. We have to talk elsewhere.”_

_“Aa, that might be wise. The roof?” There would be fewer prying eyes there._

_“All right . . . You go first and I’ll meet you there after the doctor makes his rounds,” Suzaku said and hesitated briefly. “Get me a sandwich from the canteen, please?”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 27th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Suzaku showed up ten minutes after Lelouch made it to the roof. His IV drip was dangling on a mobile stand and he was limping slightly--all in all, he did look like he had been very near death._

_“Are you insane? You don’t even have shoes on!” Lelouch exclaimed. Suzaku was clad in a white hospital smock and little else. It was just like him to rush about impulsively without thinking to put on more clothes._

_“There weren’t any shoes around,” Suzaku said, leaning slightly on the IV stand. “I’m not supposed to be up and about actually . . .”_

_Lelouch noticed his stare and handed over the packet of sandwiches he had bought along the way. Suzaku wolfed them down, apparently without pausing for breath._

_“I can tell Nunnally that your appetite hasn’t changed,” Lelouch said dryly. “She’s happy to know you’re alive, thanks to your friend. Incidentally, I’m happy to see that you’ve made a new acquaintance.”_

_He tried not to look as though he was scrutinising Suzaku’s face for . . . something that would tell him what was going on. It made him uncomfortable because he did not like to play these games with his friends. But he had to know . . ._

_“Yes, she is a handful--I hope she didn’t make too much trouble for you.”_

_“Other than being an escaped subject from a secret experiment my brother was conducting, no,” Lelouch said. It was always like this with Suzaku. He would drive Lelouch to tactless, unthinking bluntness all the time when they were younger. But there was something different this time . . ._

_“Yes, she was . . . taken a few years ago by an agency that doesn’t actually appear in any directory,” Suzaku said. “I heard the news about your brother.”_

_The announcement of Clovis’ demise had been broadcast just yesterday. But Lelouch had already made certain arrangements concerning that--it was all part of the plan he had been incubating._

_“They took long enough to announce it,” he said and took a deep breath. “I did it, Suzaku--the first shot of the war against Britannia.”_

_There was a brief silence that stretched out between one second and the next. Lelouch wondered why he was holding his breath._

_“Why are you telling me this?” Suzaku did not appear surprised. Lelouch had expected shock, horror or even revulsion, but Suzaku only looked weary._

_“Because I want to know why you joined the military. Because I want to know what is your relationship with that woman that Clovis was so interested in experimenting on.” There were other questions, but those were the most important ones right now. “And I want to know if--”_

_“If it changes anything between us?” Suzaku asked._

_It was then that Lelouch realised that everything had changed. The Suzaku standing before him was not the same as the Suzaku of that blissful summer seven years ago._

_“I’m still your friend, that’s why I don’t want you to fight,” Suzaku continued. “You should be home with Nunnally, taking care of her and making her happy--”_

_“A future with Britannia ruling the world is not going to benefit anyone who is weak or powerless,” Lelouch said, but his mind was wandering far afield. What had happened?_ What had happened to Suzaku?

_“You vowed to destroy Britannia when we were ten,” Suzaku said. “I thought you hated Britannia because you were angry about a lot of things. You’re still angry and you still hate them now, but starting a war--”_

_“Is the only way I can stop that man and find out who--”_

_“Revenge at the expense of how many lives?”_

_“You’re a soldier--why are you asking me this?” Lelouch threw up his hands in exasperation. “They never reported the death toll in the ghetto. Over a thousand deaths--innocent bystanders most of them. Gunned down by soldiers. Your people, Suzaku--”_

_“Are my people. Don’t use them in a war against Britannia,” Suzaku said and Lelouch realised that his oldest friend was making a plea for him to turn back._

Why are you not on my side, Suzaku?

_“I won’t hide my motives. There are those who willingly fight against Britannia. If they choose to accept my help--”_

_“You don’t have to agree,” Suzaku cut in._

_“I didn’t think you could have changed so much,” Lelouch said at last, too angry and confused to think straight when confronted with this stranger with the face of a friend. “The Suzaku I knew would have fought ‘til his very last breath--”_

_“The Lelouch I knew was not a murderer.”_

_“Call me what you like, but I am willing to pay the price for it,” Lelouch ground out. “Those who fight to protect the homeland have the right to rule, according to Britannian Imperial Laws. Those who kill have to be prepared to be killed.”_

_But even as he said it, Lelouch knew that he had already paid a price for his actions that day. He might have lost something irreplaceable as a result._

It might be more than what I can afford . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	13. Everything Changes

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

With a contented sigh, Kallen let C.C.’s clever fingers bring her to her second, gentler climax. It had been a while after all--they had all been busy. Her nipples glistened in the dim glow from the lamps--a result of C.C.’s earlier attentions--as she stretched out on the rucked-up sheets. 

Flipping aside her long hair, C.C. lay back down, spooning against Kallen’s side. She looked as unflappable as she usually did and if Kallen had not seen her face just fifteen minutes ago, she would have never believed that C.C. was capable of any strong emotions at all.

She idly traced the curve of the other woman’s waist and hip as they lay together in the warm afterglow. Girls did smell nicer than boys did . . . during and afterwards.

“Hey, does this place have room service at this time of the night?” she asked.

“Domestic staff are on shifts twenty-four-seven,” C.C. said, shifting over onto her back and looking up at the ceiling. “Even if they do call a half-holiday, there are lots of people on the graveyard shift.”

“Wow, this place just generates its own mini-economy,” Kallen said, half in jest. “Do you want to get something to eat?”

“Order a pizza. Phone’s over there . . . Press zero and ask for the kitchen,” C.C. said, stretching out languidly, one limb at a time. Arthur, dozing on the cushions of the small settee opposite the bed, opened one eye at the mention of food.

“When did you become such a princess?” Kallen looked at her in amusement as she got up to get the handset.

“A girl has to pamper herself now and then. It’s not like I go for facials and spa treatments every week or something like that.” C.C. looked thoughtful. “If I tried that, do you think they might not complain about ordering pizza so much?”

“Saaa, who knows,” Kallen said. “Guys are unpredictable and they say _we_ are weird.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

Prior to the fifth of November, the palace and government complexes were hives of activity. Twelve delegations from the former Areas had managed to present themselves in the capital in time for the coronation. It had been decided that the newer Areas would declare for independence first. The first colonies . . . they would take a little longer to sort out. Relentlessly optimistic people like Alonzo were positive it would turn out all right.

A minor holiday had been declared for the civil servants who had been working non-stop to make the upcoming event possible.

Anyone else in that situation, when told to “take a break” would have done so. The various translators and diplomatic negotiators had made themselves scarce and some were said to be hiding in dark cellars to obtain at least twenty-four hours of sleep without fear of being harried by their demonic taskmaster.

Speaking of dark cellars . . . said taskmaster himself had vanished into the vaults of the Palace archives since the early evening according the skeleton crew of staffers left on the night shift. It was a good half an hour before Suzaku found him in front of a massive bank of audiovisual equipment some three levels underground after disentangling himself from minor celebrations and getting Euphie’s call.

Lit up like a phantom from the pale glow of the monitor screens, Lelouch sat in the gloom, remote in hand. A mostly ignored tray of what looked like dinner sat by his elbow. The room was unheated and dimly-lit. Suzaku felt claustrophobic the moment he stepped in.

“Lelouch . . . Have you been looking at it frame by frame?” Suzaku asked, anticipating the obvious answer to that. Lelouch was silent, his eyes staring fixedly at the screen. “Don’t we both have an important appointment in the morning?”

His fingers were icy as Suzaku pried them one by one off the remote controller. The images on the screen froze and then blanked out as he turned the damned recording off.

Someone else might wonder what drove the prince to re-watch scenes from his own mother’s assassination over and over again. Suzaku said nothing as he tried to get Lelouch to stand, then when cajoling failed, carried Lelouch physically from the stifling vault.

_Pot, kettle . . . All right then . . . ___

Large violet eyes, open and unseeing, stared at the ceiling above him as Suzaku laid him in the over-large bathtub and turned the water on.

The warm water brought some colour back into his pale limbs, though it took a while before the hand Suzaku held moved slightly.

“Hey, how long were you cooped up in there for?” Suzaku asked as he grasped those bloodless fingers and began to chaff some life back into them. “Honestly, there’s a--”

“The security footage was tampered with.”

Frame-by-frame, Suzaku had no doubt of it. And probably more than six solid hours.

“And now?”

“And now? I go back to chasing shadows,” Lelouch murmured, tilting his head back to lean against the white porcelain of the bath. “The hunt continues.”

Sometimes, Suzaku wondered which one of them was more obsessed with nigh impossible goals.

“With Your Majesty’s permission, of course,” Lelouch said, bringing the hand Suzaku held to closer him. “I apologise for being remiss in my duties today, but you did say to take a break, which I interpreted to mean that I could stop trying to talk sense into assorted delegates via translator.”

His lips were warm against Suzaku’s knuckles.

_Pot, kettle . . ._

A moment later, thigh-deep in bathwater, his clothes were getting soaked. If Lelouch was not trying to suck the air out of Suzaku’s lungs, he would have been scolded for getting his suit wet.

_All right then._

Underneath his coat, Lelouch was an angular bundle of bones. He might have been sluggish and half-numbed by the cold before, but there was a strength born of desperation in his movements as he held Suzaku close.

_To the end . . ._

Lelouch would never forget. He would forge on relentlessly. Suzaku knew this as well as he knew every inch of skin under his hands. But he also knew what was needed to make the shadows of the past go away. Just for a little while.

_To the bitter end._

It was difficult to manoeuvre within the confines of the large, slippery bathtub. But they managed, as they always did, to get the necessary garments out of the way. Lelouch wrapped his legs around Suzaku as he regained a little more strength, moulding their bodies together. 

_After all, we’re in this together . . ._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 27th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Standing on the hospital roof, Suzaku felt the wind change._

_He had tried even though he knew that it was useless. Nothing he said was working because Lelouch had thrown his lot in with the resistance movement. They would not pass up the chance to use his intellect. Suzaku knew what Lelouch was capable of when he actually put in some effort into achieving something._

_There was one more thing he had not tried . . . Suzaku did not need extrasensory abilities to read Lelouch. His weaknesses were there on display for the world to see._

_Nunnally was his entire reason for living at the moment. Surely Lelouch knew that Nunnally would never condone this sort of thing? If she rejected him and his actions . . . That would destroy Lelouch more thoroughly than anything the Britannians could do._

_“Nunnally wouldn’t have wanted that. Can you go back to her like this?” he asked. “And what would she do if you lost your life?”_

_“Don’t think for a moment that I never thought of that!” Lelouch said, whipping around to face him again. “Why do you think I’m willing to risk my own life?”_

_“You don’t care about dying--”_

_“In a world without war, killers aren’t needed,” Lelouch stated. “It may be that I don’t get to live to see it. That’s fine by me.”_

_It was then that Suzaku realised that Lelouch was willing to give up everything. He would gamble all._

_“You can’t possibly have--”_

_“I’m going against Britannia--against my father, the Emperor. Don’t think for a moment that I don’t know the price for that.”_

_It was Suzaku who had forgotten. This was a prince of Britannia through and through. His mother had been a soldier and a knight while his father was . . . a warmongering tyrant. Fighting was in his blood despite his frail physique._

Dammit.

_“I don’t want Nunnally to lose her brother. You shouldn’t be so selfish,” Suzaku said, finally raising his voice. “Consider Nunnally’s feelings, why don’t you?”_

_“You’re a fine one to talk about other people’s feelings! Maybe you should do so the next time you decide to throw yourself in front of some bullets!” Lelouch looked livid. “I almost had a heart attack! And was I supposed to keep the fact that you died in front of me a secret while Nunnally goes ‘Oh I wish Suzaku was here’ at dinner time?”_

_He was breathing hard after that outburst, Suzaku noticed. So it was something he had been keeping that pent up since that day. Since they were both venting . . ._

_“Well, you should think of how it’s going to be if I have to fight you!”_

_“Which wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t in the Britannian military!” Lelouch retorted. “Why are you serving the very Empire that invaded your country?”_

Why indeed . . .

_“Because it was the only way to make things better!” It sounded hollow in the face of Lelouch’s conviction. “I wasn’t born a prince or lord. But if I can get into a position to--”_

_“So what would you have done if you had been ordered to shoot the ghetto dwellers?” Lelouch demanded. “Refused a direct order? They would have had you charged with insubordination and your career would have been done for!”_

_The secret of his_ Geass _was bubbling forth to the surface, but Suzaku gritted his teeth against his traitorous tongue. How could he tell Lelouch that he was waiting for the chance to use the witch’s gift to advance himself? As plans went, it was lacking many factors that relied entirely on the_ Geass. _Lelouch would never leave so many things to chance. And that was only if Lelouch could even believe such a wild tale . . ._

_“You’re not a killer, Suzaku,” Lelouch was saying. “You can’t shoot to kill on command without questioning the order. I can understand becoming an Honorary Britannian to work your way into the system, but a soldier is something you’re not cut out for. I can’t imagine you killing anyone--”_

If only you knew . . .

_In his mind’s eye, he could still see the corpse of his father. That was a secret he had no desire to tell Lelouch. He also had to reconcile the small part of him that was glad that the razing of the ghetto had been halted. But it was true, his former self protested, what the Viceroy had done was wrong. What Clovis had done to C.C. or anyone else in the course of experimenting on human beings was . . . something he could not condone._

_Lelouch would probably taunt him about the impossibility of bringing a prince to justice. And he was right. There was a set of laws for nobles and a set of laws for ordinary Britannians. The laws for Numbers and Honorary Britannians . . . were almost the same thing._

_“How do you know?” Suzaku asked. Leluch stopped halfway through a sentence and stared at him. “A lot of things can change in seven years. You used to squirm when the gardeners sprayed pesticide on the caterpillars infesting the trees in the garden.”_

_“It was . . . necessary,” Lelouch said. “That’s what you said, back then . . .”_

_“Aa, I did . . .” He wished that they had not changed. That the innocence they once had was permanent. That at least those precious months could remain perfect and unsullied. But change seemed to be the only constant thing. “So how far will you go, to do what’s necessary?”_

_Lelouch looked him in the eye. “As far as I have to. Will you stop me?”_

_“If I have to. Do I have to?” Suzaku asked, feeling oddly lightheaded. He put it down to the severe blood loss he had experienced. “Can I trust that you won’t hurt people?”_

_“You can’t,” Lelouch admitted. “But it’s their choice if some of the Japanese want to fight the Britannians. It was not my intention to threaten innocents, Suzaku--Suzaku?”_

_“What?”_

_“You’re wobbling--”_

_“Just a little dizzy,” Suzaku murmured, gripping the IV stand like a crutch._

_“You’re overexerting yourself, aren’t you? You were shot multiple times and you keep trying to pretend you’re all right--”_

_Lelouch’s lecture flew right over his head as he tried to concentrate on his wavering vision. He did not heal as quickly or as effortlessly as C.C. did--the resultant weakness was probably due to his body’s lack of resources to cope with the demand of rapidly regenerating cells. Those sandwiches seemed to have been consumed an awfully long time ago . . ._

_“I am mostly fine,” he said, straightening up despite his aching bones. “So you’re not going to change your mind? How are you going to fight without harming anyone?”_

_“That’s not possible and you know it,” Lelouch said ruefully. “But I’ll promise you this, no civilians will be involved. A war is about two opposing forces that choose to fight each other . . . If I am waging war against the Britannian military, that would mean fighting you, wouldn’t it?”_

_“And you’re all right with that too, I suppose?” It had come to this at last._

_“No.” Lelouch smiled--a brittle, hard-edged twitch of his lips. “I will try to win you over. You know how stubborn I can be.”_

_“Yes . . . But I’m not so easily convinced.” Suzaku knew that everything would be different from this point onwards._

_“Right, you haven’t changed in that respect.” There was a knowing, almost sad look in Lelouch’s eyes then. Resignation, perhaps._

_“So I’ll be your opponent then?”_

What have we done now? This is not a race up the hill . . .

_“You need to be something higher than a lowly foot soldier first,” Lelouch said with a sardonic lift of his brows. “I intend to start out as the equivalent of a general.”_

_“Is that a challenge?” Suzaku invariably won and races or contests of strength and agility. This however, was a different playing field. And Suzaku understood what Lelouch was doing, even now._

_“You needed a kick in the pants to get moving,” Lelouch said. “I won’t wait for you to heal completely.”_

_“All right.” It was not exactly fair because he had the_ Geass _, but as his ability did not extend to Lelouch, it would balance out evenly. “Has it almost been an hour?”_

_“Ten more minutes. You should go back before you’re missed.”_

_“Can C.C. stay for a while with you?” Suzaku asked as he limped towards the stairs. It was unfair tactics to plant a mole like C.C., but Lelouch was probably not going to tell her anything important. “She might have to lie low for a while.”_

_“Hmph. I still don’t know what she is,” Lelouch began._

_“You can call it a trade,” Suzaku said, wincing inside in anticipation of what C.C. was going to say about this. “I won’t tell anyone about you in exchange for you not telling anyone about her.”_

_Lelouch looked at him as though he had grown a second head. “So it’s come to this? Mutual blackmail?”_

_“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Suzaku said, knowing it for a fact. He had decided to head it off now rather than later._

_“But I’ve already confessed to Clovis’ murder--”_

_“You already did_ what _?” Suzaku thought he was beyond surprises by now. And he was beginning to sound like a broken record._

_“--Or at least I sent the video disc of my declaration to the relevant parties.” Lelouch looked thoughtful. “The fact that they haven’t broadcast it means that something else is afoot.”_

_Suzaku changed his mind right there and then. It was perfectly fair to have C.C. watching Lelouch even though she would probably come up with little of note. Lelouch needed some more surprises in his life._

_“You declared war on Britannia?”_

_“Fair is fair. A warning of impending hostilities is necessary, correct?” Lelouch looked sideways at him. Seven years ago, there had been plenty of warning signs that Britannia was planning to invade. But they had struck with such force and abruptness that any preparations the Japanese had made were rendered useless._

_“I see . . . You might need to warn them a little more firmly.”_

_“Naturally.” Lelouch inclined his head and made shooing motions at Suzaku. “You should be getting back now. Nunnally would not like it if you survived a shooting only to collapse from sheer bull-headed stubbornness.”_

_“Tell Nunnally I’ll come visit,” Suzaku said, turning to begin the walk back to his ward._

_“Get better so that you don’t look like something the cat dragged i--” There was a strangled sound as Lelouch stopped in the middle of yet another admonishment._

_“Suzaku,” Lelouch said after a strained pause._

_“Yes?”_

_“You’re not wearing any underwear, you moron!” Lelouch hissed. “How you survived in the army until now I will never know!”_

_He must have noticed the gaps in the back of hospital smock. Suzaku did not bother to explain that they did not issue underwear to recipients of major surgery so soon after patching up the bullet holes as Lelouch complained about his lack of common decency and his uncommonly inappropriate sense of propriety._

_Some things never did change, Suzaku thought as they went back indoors. He was relieved for it was getting a little drafty out there._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 27th, 2017 a.t.b._

_The overwhelming sense of being . . . overwhelmed was familiar to Ohgi as he chaired the meeting between his resistance cell and the Britannian boy._

_The honest-to-goodness Eleventh Prince of the Empire. Ohgi was barely able to accept it and he could see that everyone else was having the same sort of cognitive dissonance._

_The members who were present had turned up on the condition that they were allowed to be anonymous. Lelouch had graciously accepted those terms and if he discomfited by the fact that most of the dozen or so Japanese in the room were wearing sunglasses or masks, he did not show it._

_They were gathered in a very cramp room above an old disused factory. A temporary venue that had no value and no implications for anyone involved._

_He had neatly put all his cards on the table. A certain degree of financing, augmenting and enlarging their sphere of influence, improving their technological infrastructure and planning their operations . . . A lot more than what an average schoolboy could offer._

_That was the other thing--they might be hosting this meeting, but the boy had taken over almost immediately. He had made no bones about his identity and it was working because people subconsciously expected royalty to take charge._

_“It can’t be known that you’re the one strategising our moves,” Ohgi began._

_“I understand completely. Having someone more junior and a Britannian no less would undermine confidence in our cause.”_

_“You throw around fancy words like ‘our cause’, but I don’t see you bleeding for it,” Tamaki said._

_“On the contrary. I have already stated my involvement in Clovis’ death,” Lelouch said, sitting back with a smile as the chorus of disbelief started up. He let it go on for a while then stood up suddenly. His abruptness caused everyone to look at him in silence. “Not as myself, of course. This movement needs a symbol--”_

_“So you just created one?” Ohgi asked. “Before you even knew we were going to accept your proposal?”_

_“I have it here.” Lelouch produced a video disc. “A copy of this was sent to the Imperial Government Complex a day after the Shinjuku Incident. The fact that it was suppressed means that they’re up to something.”_

_“Who’re_ they _?” Tamaki demanded. “And what is on that disc anyway?”_

 _Lelouch passed the disc over to Ohgi, who transferred it to the small portable video player on the table. “_ They _may be agencies that wish to use Clovis’ death for their own purposes. That recording . . . is a symbol.”_

_Ohgi toggled the “play” button and the assembled members of his admittedly small resistance group huddled closer to watch recording._

_Someone sniggered at first, followed by Tamaki muttering, “Is this guy for real?”_

_But they quieted down soon enough as the gist of the message reached them. The speech was verbose and definitely aggressive in tone. But one could not help but listen to it all the way through . . ._

_“Well, it’s certainly attention grabbing--”_

_“You’re not serious! Who’d trust a guy in a mask?”_

_“So you’re going to declare a war with Britannia? Are you crazy?”_

_Lelouch held up his hand and it was almost frightening to see how quickly everyone looked his way and stopped talking. “Firstly, we have to legitimise our cause. The Britannians will seek to undermine us by labelling us terrorists. Secondly, masks are useful . . . Symbols can continue as long as the mask remains the same. It will also be useful if we need to create alibis.”_

_“So you’ve stated your involvement in the prince’s death and did it in such a way that there’s no doubt that you did it, but why are they suppressing it?” asked one of the female members that Ohgi recognised as Hara Chieko. She had actually raised her hand before speaking._

_“I have a few theories . . . which will be quickly confirmed once we find out who is in-charge of the investigation. Does anyone have any connections with the military? In the civil service?”_

_Someone murmured that they might know someone else who had a relative working for the Britannians._

_“We’ll investigate that angle before we put forth the back-up plan, if that is all right with you,” Lelouch said to Ohgi._

_“That sounds reasonable,” Ohgi replied, clearing his throat for the next step. “So you’ve all heard what he had to say. We’re going to put it to a vote now, so if you don’t mind stepping out for a moment . . .”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 29th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Watching the news from the small television screen in the ward, Suzaku could not help but feel apprehensive. They had just released the report on the investigation of Prince Clovis’ murder. The investigation was headed by members of the Purists faction and true to form, they had announced that an Honorary Britannian soldier who had been on guard duty that day was being held on charges of treason and homicide._

_It was a ridiculous allegation because anyone in the military knew that Honorary Britannians were not given any posts that would allow them near the high-ranking brass. But the Purists had been trying to keep Honorary Britannians out of the military for years--Clovis’ murder was a prime opportunity to for them to set up a ban on what they called “untrustworthy Numbers”._

_He had requested headphones for it was the only way he would have been allowed to watch the news in his ward while the other three men slept the sleep of the heavily sedated. Thus he was distracted by the news and did not notice when a nurse came in and walked up to his bed._

When did nurses come in at this hour?

_“C.C.,” Suzaku said, no longer surprised by recent events. He took off the headphones but left the television on._

_“Most men would be glad to see a pretty nurse when they’ve been hospitalised for days,” C.C. said. She was dressed in the white tunic and pants that the nurses of the military hospital wore--doubtlessly stolen from the staff changing room._

_“There aren’t any nurses that look remotely pretty here, unless you count the one who assists with the surgery and he’s male,” Suzaku pointed out. “You stick out like a sore thumb.”_

_“And you’ve got the tact of a blind ox, so what else is new? I”ll take that as a compliment,” C.C. said. “I came to see you and this is what I get in return--”_

_“Sorry, but I’d rather you save the visits and not get caught again,” Suzaku told her bluntly. “You should stay put--”_

_“I came because your friend went out for the evening. He made doubly sure I wasn’t going to follow him.”_

_“How did he manage that?” Suzaku was impressed despite himself._

_“He suggested that his sister should entertain me by taking me to the school play,” C.C. said. “I had to endure an amateur production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream--the Abridged Version’ before I could excuse myself. There’s no point in performing the classics if you’re going to abridge them--”_

_“So you think he’s going to meet up with the resistance cell he found?” One of the few things C.C. could be bothered to talk about was the arts and especially those that she had experienced personally._

_C.C. shot him a look that clearly labelled him as a philistine in her book. “He’s already done so at least twice. The first time was after he came here to see you.”_

_He should have expected Lelouch to be well-prepared. Suzaku wondered if Lelouch had it all scheduled in his day planner: “3pm--finish classes. 4pm--visit old friend in hospital after stealing uniform. 4.30pm--make time for a long argument with said friend. 6.00pm--meet up with resistance group. 8pm--go home for dinner with Nunnally . . .”_

_“So he’s made his move--”_

_The television screen went blurry for a moment and suddenly went black._

_“I think that might be your friend’s doing,” C.C. murmured, looking at the screen where the words “Transmission Interrupted” flashed on and off in bold letters._

_When the screen cleared again, it was not the nightly news broadcast. Suzaku jammed the headphones back on and C.C. swiftly found another pair._

_“People of Area Eleven--no, Japan,” said the masked figure on screen. “I am Zero and I cannot stay silent any longer because injustice upon injustice has occurred within the space of only a few days!”_

_The person’s voice was deep, booming and probably amplified. The mask was a helmet-like covering that disguised every feature of the speaker above the collar of the dark cloak he wore. But there was something about the way the figure moved that was extremely familiar--_

_“The murder of Viceroy Clovis was an execution. One life balanced against the thousands he ordered killed. Yet justice was not served. I sent word of the execution to the government, but it was suppressed. Now they claim that an Honorary Britannian committed murder--a ludicrous accusation with no grounding in fact,” the masked man announced with a grand flourish. “This is the hand that executed justice and I will ensure that the ones guilty of twisting such a horrific event for their own purposes be punished! For--”_

_The screen blinked out again and remained blank--someone had probably pulled the plug on the channel that had been hijacked._

_“Lelouch,” Suzaku said in resignation as the screen flashed an apology for the interrupted news broadcast._

_“He certainly has a flair for drama,” C.C. said critically. “Definitely over the top, but it’s attention-grabbing.”_

_“So he has their attention . . . now what will he do?”_

_“Well he’s not going confide in me . . . Here, I got you something.” A paper bag was thrust his way and Suzaku apologised for all the uncharitable thoughts he had had about C.C. that day as he found an assortment of filled buns and pastry inside._

_“--ank’you,” he said around a mouthful of chicken-filled pastry. Swallowing, he took a gulp of water from the container at his bedside table. “You didn’t rob a bakery, did you?”_

_“Of course not. I went in when they were closing and got them to give the unsold ones to me before they threw it out. Such a waste of good food.” C.C. shook her head at the habits of the modern world. Somewhere in her past, she had known what near-starvation was like. “And it’s annoying to keep hearing ‘I’m hungry’ on repeat all day long.”_

_“Sorry--isn’t there some way to block it out?” He finished another bun and felt better now that he had some solid food._

_“Not when you’re projecting like that. Anyhow, it’s better like this--I’ll always know if you’re still alive or conscious.”_

_“Speaking of that . . . Let me see what happened. I mean in the time when you were gone.” Suzaku reached out to her expectantly._

_“Not so soon after you’ve eaten,” C.C. said, shifting away from his hand. “If you’re going to vomit everything out I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble to get you food.”_

_Suzaku sat up straight in alarm. “It was that bad?”_

_“No--just not something you should see while you’re in a hospital undergoing surgery,” C.C. said. “I should get back before your melodramatic friend does. Don’t die on me now.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The witch was relieved that he had another reason for living now. It had been getting harder and harder to keep this one from going the same way some of the less stable ones did . . ._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 29th, 2017 a.t.b._

_“They’ve cut off Channel Six!” Tsugumi hissed to Ohgi._

_“Channel Four?” Ohgi asked, one eye on the one-time AV technician manning the portable switchboard and another on the screen of the camera where “Zero” was making his point. They had managed to hijack the news broadcast just before the end, but some high-ups at Britannian Broadcasting Inc. had ordered the transmission to be completely cut. Now they were switching channels in an effort to keep their broadcast alive._

_“I’m trying my best here,” the tech muttered as he fiddled with various switches and dials. They were currently using the satellite transmitter in one of the neighbouring buildings--right next door to the BBI. “Sooner or later, they’ll encrypt the signals and you’ll have to get someone who can hack into it.”_

_That would be an issue for the recruitment arm of the Black Knights. Within the space of two days, they had already been re-organised into committees._

_After he had been accepted into the group, Lelouch had proposed a series of changes. His argument was that if they were going to go against Britannia, they had to be the exact opposite. Which meant opening up recruitment for all races, regardless of nationality, age and gender._

_Hence the Black Knights. There had been talk of uniforms already._

_“We’ve got Channel Four!” Tsugumi said, baring his teeth in a fierce grin. “On three now . . .”_

_The excitement was infectious. Tamaki gave the thumbs-up sign on Tsugumi’s count and Chieko started the recording again._

_It was easier to be enthusiastic about what they were doing when there was a plan that actually worked. Ohgi realised this as he continued to watch the operation._

_Periodically, he would check on the security via the headsets they had acquired to replace their old walkie-talkies. “Kallen, how are things up there?”_

_“All clear--they don’t suspect that we’re right under their noses,” Kallen reported from the roof where she was standing as their lookout. The sheer audacity of the plan was working in their favour. With luck, they would manage to transmit the entire broadcast._

_After this, they would no longer another small, unremarkable cell in the Tokyo area. Things certainly were changing . . ._

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	14. Out of the Blue

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

Morning found them up if not exactly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Coffee helped. As did another shower. At the appointed time, an aircraft carrier was given clearance to land at the private airstrip behind the Palace where a group of select personnel were ready to receive them.

The cargo doors of the carrier opened first and the woman who stepped out onto the tarmac was unmistakably Nina, though she had matured since Ashford Academy. Behind her was someone else who looked like he was cast from the classic mould for “eccentric scientist” and a tall figure that Suzaku would know anywhere.

“Gino!”

“Yo! Suza--I mean Your Majesty,” Gino said, making the formal obeisance. So much for being temporarily incognito.

“I am so going to ban bowing and kneeling,” Suzaku said tightly as everyone else from the handlers to the aircraft crew followed suit. “Gino, get up--there’s a reason why that sort of thing is done indoors and not on the tarmac.”

“Habit,” Gino said with a shrug as he brushed off his knee. “Nothing a good laundering won’t cure.”

“More to the point,” Lelouch said, “does this mean you’ve defected, Knight of Three?”

“Do I get to make it official?” Gino asked, but he was dead serious as he looked Suzaku in the eye. “By tradition, a Knight of Rounds serves the Emperor that appointed him. As the Emperor is missing, presumed deceased, I am no longer the Knight of Three.”

“Freelancing, are you?” Suzaku asked, looking at the aircraft carrier behind him. The hold was now fully exposed and if he was not mistaken, that was the tell-tale shape of Gino’s Tristan inside.

“Civilian transport. They wanted a lift to their chosen place of asylum, so I helped them out.”

“Sir Weinberg was very helpful,” Nina piped up. She looked uncertainly at Suzaku and Lelouch before going for the safe option of a curtsy--a difficult thing to achieve in pants and a lab coat. “Your Majesty, I am seeking asylum--”

“Granted, so long as you stop doing that,” Suzaku said quickly. “You look like you left in a hurry.”

“Yeah, but you should see what they managed to bring along,” Gino stated, waving at the aircraft carrier. The other scientist was running around trying to supervise the unloading of several crates.

“That’s Ian Bolton, my mentor. Former, I mean,” Nina said. “He’s a specialist in nuclear fission. And those are the hard drives and computers we managed to-to--”

“Steal,” Gino supplied helpfully. Nina flushed uncomfortably.

“Take away with us,” Ian Bolton protested, turning back from haranguing the handlers. He sounded quite sharp despite his scattered appearance. “It’s _our_ work.”

“The issue of your intellectual rights is not the problem here,” Lelouch injected smoothly, gesturing to the ushers in attendance. “I’m sure you’ve had a tiring journey. As His Majesty has granted asylum, please rest before a debriefing can be arranged.” 

Their guests and their potentially sensitive baggage were quickly hustled off as the landing strip was cleared once again for another incoming craft.

“I thought we only had _one_ special guest this morning,” Suzaku said to Lelouch.

“I thought so too,” Lelouch said, listening to the report coming through his earpiece. They watched as the next aircraft--a sleek ultra-modern passenger carrier--landed neatly on the airstrip.

The familiar figure of Euphemia li Britannia, most definitely not a princess at the moment, emerged from the passenger compartment pushing a wheelchair containing Nunnally vi Britannia, still technically a princess of the Britannian Empire.

“Euphie? Nunnally?” It looked like Nina had been sent to the right place . . .

“I heard you were looking for someone to overhaul the royal archives and prune the imperial etiquette and formalities,” she said, waving cheerfully as the manual lift was wheeled over to assist in moving Nunnally’s wheelchair. “Do I get an interview, Your Majesty?”

“You can start by stopping that right now,” Suzaku muttered as Lelouch hid his expression behind a fake cough.

“I had to tag along--so I hope Your Majesty doesn’t mind,” Nunnally said before she was embraced by her older brother the second the lift touched the ground.

This was the kind of attack that Suzaku had no defences for and no preparation against. Lelouch was going to be of no help at the moment.

Behind the ladies were Jeremiah and Sayoko, looking as stoic as good retainers should--but there was a suspicious twinkle in their eyes as they observed the scene.

“Euphie--it’s not--”

“Oh please, why shouldn’t I get to see your coronation? Unless you would like to order me back . . .”

“Of course not,” Suzaku said, finally admitting defeat.

“Good, now we’ll say we’re sorry to be imposing, but it’ll only be for a while,” Euphemia said, giving Suzaku a peck on the cheek that promised other things to come later. “Lelouch! We’re so sorry for dropping in out of the blue, but Nunnally misses you.”

At the receiving end of a sisterly kiss, Lelouch raised his eyebrows helplessly at Suzaku and extended his arm to Euphie, who took it graciously. “Euphie, Nunnally, I’ll have your rooms readied,” he said. “How about the suite overlooking the garden in the west wing?”

“That sounds lovely, Brother!”

“Indeed . . . Now have you eaten? I can smell coffee on your breath--don’t tell me that’s all you had for breakfast?”

Taking their cue from the former princess, the attendants formed up into two rows and bowed. Suzaku, realising that they were expecting him to move first, started walking. Sayoko took charge of Nunnally’s wheelchair and they made their way back to the Palace proper.

“In case he ever asks--” Lelouch began, _sotto voce_ , to his half-sister when they lagged behind for a moment.

“About the call you made to Jeremiah and Sayoko? That will remain between you and me, Lelouch,” Euphie said with a wink as she leaned on his arm. “Let’s have brunch now, shall we?”

“Certainly, but a short one--there’s a debrief we have to attend. I fear we might be in for it again . . . You may or may not want to sit in for this one, Euphie.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 8th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Physiotherapy was a welcome change from the sterile dullness of the hospital ward. The sooner he was discharged, the sooner he could get out to continue . . . whatever it was that he and Lelouch had hazily touched upon that day on the roof._

_But he had been hearing things around the wards and on the physiotherapy floor._

_There had been rumbles of discontent from the Honorary Britannian Japanese. They had been watching the news reports and waiting. Wondering if anything was going to come of the investigation of one Yanagi Takahito, who had the misfortune to be the nearest Honorary Britannian to the scene of the crime._

_Suzkau knew Yanagi as a more-vocal-than-average member of the cohort of Honorary Britannian soldiers. They had been in the same unit during basic training. It had been Yanagi who had spoken up about the Hokkaido affair--another horrible mess that had been swept under the carpet by Internal Affairs._

_It was generally agreed that while Yanagi had not technically done anything wrong, he was the most convenient target they could find. A talkative Eleven whose comments had bordered on treasonous at one point._

_Suzaku remembered the Hokkaido incident. How he had learned about the bitter reality of Honorary Britannians in the army. How close he had been to being in the same boat as Yanagi . . ._

_“Your_ vastus lateralis _is certainly on the mend,” the physiotherapist said, looking over his thigh approvingly. “You were lucky you were only winged. A few more sessions and you’ll be fit for duty again.”_

_He emerged from the physiotherapy unit and got away from the well-meaning but overly curious therapist on duty. It would never do to have them question his unusually swift recovery._

_Back in the ward, he found someone looking for him._

_“Private Kururugi, is it?” the man with Lieutenant rank tabs asked, a little irate that he had been kept waiting._

_“Yes, sir.” He could have used the excuse of his condition to avoid standing up to salute the Lieutenant, but he did not._

_“Earl Asplund and his assistant, Ms Cecile Croomy, have requested to see you,” the man said and his expression was dubious because he could not imagine why a member of the nobility would want to speak with an Eleven. “They’re on the third floor.”_

_His visitors were a man in a slightly rumpled lab coat and a woman in crisply-pressed uniform. They had the not-exactly-military look to them that told Suzaku that they were not army regulars._

_“Congratulations! You’re in better shape than we expected!” the man who was presumably the Earl exclaimed when Suzaku entered the small meeting room. The woman frowned at the Earl and made the proper introductions._

_“Private Kururugi,” she began, “have you heard of the new seventh generation KMFs?”_

_Suzaku allowed that he had heard some talk of such a thing, but as he was only a Private, he was not privy to the details._

_“Congratulations!” the Earl exclaimed again. “You’ve just been selected to participate in a working trial of the newest seventh generation KMF!”_

_“We have to warn you,” Cecile Croomy said quickly. “The experimental model has no ejection mechanism.”_

_“Which we will put in,” Earl Asplund chipped in._

_“--Eventually. When we finally get more funding,” Cecile said, glaring at the Earl, who withered slightly at some silent rebuke._

_“And that’s where you come in, Private Kururugi,” Asplund said, rebounding gleefully. “Your KMF simulator scores are the best in the current cohort.”_

_“But Honorary Britannians aren’t allowed to pilot KMFs,” Suzaku said, even as the realisation of what they wanted from him dawned bright and clear. They needed more funding and to get it, they required results._

_“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if we borrowed you--”_

_“Meaning that we have the Second Prince’s backing for the project,” Cecile said, producing a clipboard and shooting another dirty look at the Earl. “We’ll have to increase your security clearance, of course.”_

_Suzaku listened carefully to their explanations and read the forms dutifully. Of course it was permissable to requisition Honorary Britannians on medical leave for experimental KMF testing. Very few experienced pilots would want to test-drive an experimental model designed by a maverick scientist with no ejection mechanism._

_But he also knew that this was no chance opportunity that had landed on his lap. His_ Geass _again, creating the opportunity he had been wishing for._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_The witch walked through the boundaries of time and space, passing through the various worlds and possibilities of worlds until she reached her destination. It was not her favourite place to be, but it was a familiar stop amidst her wanderings._

_Someday, the boy might not be sitting in this dreary room surrounded by the darkness of his past. That day was not today._

_C.C. looked over at the spot where the bloodstains usually were. Kururugi Genbu’s corpse occupied the space now--a sign that things were very bleak indeed._ You’re a cheerful one today _she said to the figure on the sofa._

It’s going to be the end of Honorary Britannian Japanese serving in the armed forces soon if Yanagi gets convicted _Suzaku said. He was too close now for a gang of Purists to start dictating who was allowed in the military._

That is going problematic . . . for you. _C.C. leaned against the back of the sofa._ So what will you do?

 _Suzaku did not say anything for a while. It was risky . . . what he was about to propose._ Tell Lelouch about the Hokkaido incident.

Are you sure? _C.C. had access to all his memories, but she was reserved about prying. He tried to extend that same courtesy to her whenever he chanced upon her domain._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_May 9th, 2016 a.t.b._

_The vast expanses of wilderness in Hokkaido provided ample room for military training exercises. The flora and fauna of springtime was probably lost on the trainees grunting and huffing their way through a wilderness survival course. The trail was uneven and they were carrying full packs for this exercise on a cloudless afternoon._

_Suzaku was halfway up a slope when he heard someone cried out. He turned to see that one of the trainees behind him on the trail had slipped and fallen. Some of the others behind him had stopped to check on him._

_“Leave him alone and keep moving!” The strident brass tones of the sergeant rang down from the top of the slope._

_“But sir, Noguchi could be hurt!” Suzaku had dared to speak out first. His Britannian was better than that of his peers and therefore more difficult for any superiors to ignore._

_“You don’t get paid to think, Kururugi--get moving!” The sergeant in charge of this leg of the training course was a hulking bull of a man, wide and stocky even by Britannian standards._

_“I think he needs help, sir!” One of the trainees beside Noguchi had straightened up to look at the sergeant. “He might be injured!”_

_It had been Yanagi, another trainee with a passable grasp of Britannian, who had done the primary survey of the prone figure. A year older than Suzaku, he should have been promoted to active duty by now, but certain factors had held him back._

_The sergeant, swearing in disgust, had made his way down to where they were. “All right, I’ll take care of this! Get your asses up that slope now!”_

_The slope was actually a small hillock. At the top, the trail would dip gradually into the next leg of the course. The recruits turned away from their fallen member reluctantly and shouldered their packs once more for the uphill climb._

_At the top of the hillock, no one dared to rest, but Suzaku slowed down. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Yanagi had hung back and was looking back up the trail. He looked around and saw Suzkau staring at him. As if daring him to say anything about it, Yanagi had gone back up to the top of the trail and looked back down the slope._

_Suzaku joined him a moment later, but Yanagi stopped him with one outthrust arm. Sucking in a shallow breath, Suzaku followed his lead and peered over the rise carefully._

_The sergeant was haranguing Noguchi to get up, applying the “encouragement” that usually took the form of yelling and cussing. It had been the norm for most of their training, so they did not see anything of note, until Noguchi tried to speak._

_“What’s that?” the sergeant had bellowed. “If you can’t speak properly, then don’t speak!”_

_The kick he delivered next had been entirely unexpected by the watchers. Suzaku almost made a noise in disbelief. Yanagi’s hand clamped around his arm in warning._

_“Get up, you worthless idiot!” A few more kicks drove Kawaguchi to his feet. Wincing and lurching, he had shouldered his pack and wobbled to his feet to continue on his way._

_Yanagi shrugged at Suzaku and they continued along the trail wordlessly, mildly troubled by what they had seen. Suzaku had been rigorously suppressing the_ Geass _and he had not felt anything stronger than a tingle of unease._

_Later that evening, at base camp, Noguchi complained of abdominal pains. Three hours later, he was pronounced dead by the medic. Internal bleeding--no doubt caused by the fall along the rocky trail up the slope._

_The ink was barely dry on his death certificate--death by misadventure--when Yanagi had sought out the CO and reported the incident with the sergeant._

_The CO had spoken to Yanagi at length, but nothing came of it. The entire matter was shelved, shoved under the carpet and forgotten._

_If Yanagi had spoken to Suzaku before that, his_ Geass _would have activated to warn him of the investigation that would never happen. The death certificate that would remain unchanged. Yanagi’s eventual transfer to another unit to prevent him from making any more noise._

_Yanagi’s mouth had no doubt got him into trouble again after the transfer to draw down the ire of the Purists._

_Bad luck again. Wrong place, wrong timing. But he had been right in reporting the incident._

__

* * * * * * * * * * * *

You couldn’t actually help him at that time _C.C. said laconically, withdrawing delicately from his memories. It was no wonder his thoughts were so dark today, especially if he was remembering that incident._ It’s not as though you didn’t want to.

I could have backed him up.

But you knew the consequences of that, didn’t you? _Her amber-gold eyes narrowed._ Both of you would not have come out of it unharmed.

He could have died. One of the possibilities of that route had been especially grim. A great many Britannians in the military did not take kindly to former Numbers trying to upset the status quo. Especially small fry like trainee recruits. His Geass _would have ensured that he survived the confrontation, but Yanagi would not be so lucky._

_In not a single one of the possibilities had there been justice for the death of one of their own._

_Knowing all that did not make Suzaku feel any better._

It’s not like you owe him anything.

It’s not just for him _Suzaku said, thinking of the other Honorary Britannians who had been following the trial on the news._

_The witch looked doubtful, but she would deliver his message, couched in suitably ambiguous terms or hints, to Lelouch._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 11th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Ougi closed the file containing all the hard copies of their information on the Yanagi case after double-checking against the soft copies on disc. “That’s everything then. Soft copies are all ready for sending.”_

_“It should be enough, with Zero’s testimony finally on record,” Chieko said, stretching with a yawn. Before the war, she had been a paralegal secretary in training and her skills were not going to waste now._

_The facts were clear. Yanagi Takehito was on communications duty on the day of the Shinjuku Incident. His perchance for shooting his mouth off had led to a spotty record that included very minimal arms-handling and even less direct action._

_It had been Zero’s--Lelouch’s--suggestion that they check up on his background. A lucky break for them for it meant that Yanagi’s record would have disqualified him from a posting anywhere near the central command centre and barred him from having the access codes necessary to get to there. It also highlighted his obvious candidacy as a scapegoat for the Purists, who had fallen out of favour as a result of attempting to suppress evidence._

_That had been a lucky break for them--someone in the BBI had blown the whistle on the insiders responsible for hiding the video disc with Zero’s testimonial, which had been confirmed to have been delivered the day after the Shinjuku Incident._

_Their eyes and ears in the military had informed them that the case was probably going to be dismissed against Yanagi. For once the Britannians’ love for swift justice would be working in their favour. In fact, it would be over before the new Viceroy, Cornelia li Britannia, was due to come in and take over._

_Some of their rapidly growing ranks had questioned helping Honorary Britannians, but Zero had said that it would expose Britannian prejudice and strengthen their cause._

_“Our work here is done,” Ougi said, pressing the “send” button to deliver the soft copies by email to the insider in the BBI who had promised that he would get it all broadcasted. It was also a test to determine if the man could be trusted and to see how competent he was before allowing him into the ranks. “You should get back and rest.”_

_“Okay, but what about you?”_

_“I’m conferencing online with Zero at ten-thirty,” Ougi said, gesturing at the computer screen. “He can’t always be here--you know why . . .”_

_The core members knew that Lelouch the student had to maintain his cover. It was a risky business to lead such a double life, but the Britannian boy was nothing but committed._

_“You know, I remember the news-bites from seven years ago--there was a tiny picture of him and his sister that someone had taken at the airport. I thought he was an adorable little boy--of course, I was only twenty-one back then,” Chieko added reflectively._

_“And now?”_

_“Not very adorable and very angry,” she said. “The bastard Clovis deserved it, but he was his half-brother after all.”_

_For the Japanese, the family unit was the ultimate cornerstone of life. Lelouch’s cold-blooded execution of his own brother had been a chilling reminder that the boy was the result of a very different background. Some historical back-checking had yielded up generations of in-fighting amongst the contentious, ruthless and bloodthirsty members of the Britannian royal family._

_The Emperor had outright encouraged such competition and had fanned the flames by having over a hundred wives with potential successors being born every year. It was enough to turn schoolboys into revolutionaries._

_“Would we have believed him if he had not killed Clovis? He was making a point to us too.” Ougi did not approve of boys killing their brothers, but it had been the only way to stop the massacre. They were in an uneasy alliance to achieve both their goals and the outcome was still up in the air. “It might get harder now that Cornelia is taking over.”_

_By all accounts, the Second Princess was a season military campaigner--second only to Schneizel on the battlefield._

_The computer chimed and a message window popped up to inform him of an incoming request for a conversation. Chieko picked up her stuff and waved at him before she left him to it._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 13th, 2017 a.t.b._

_That afternoon, after his physiotherapy session, Suzaku returned to the floor housing the injured Honorary Britannians and found it a hive of activity._

_The verdict was in. Someone had got a message from someone else who had heard the news first hand. Lack of evidence. Case dismissed._

_Along the corridors, various noises of subdued discussion could be heard. The warded Honorary Britannians were spreading the word, glad for some good news for a change._

_“But everyone knows it was Zero’s doing--”_

_“Some cover-up’s going on for certain!”_

_“I knew Yanagi from when we were in school, you know?”_

_And there were others who remained subdued despite the news. They were the ones who had participated in the primary razing of the ghetto and were silently regretting every moment of it. Suzaku wished he did not know what they felt and clamped down on his_ Geass _so that he would not have to see the end results of that kind of guilt._

_It was probably cowardly, but he could not save everyone. Not like this. There had to be a change so that no one would have to be ordered to kill their former countrymen again. The kick in the pants that Lelouch had offered him had arrived just in time, as had the timely intervention for Yanagi’s case._

_For this, he would owe Lelouch. At least enough for him to maintain his silence for now._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 14th, 2017 a.t.b._

For this, you owe me pizza for the whole year _C.C. thought as she lay in wait in the shadows of a three-storey parking lot._

_She found what she was looking for moments later as a young man crossed the road in front of her. Behind him, about a hundred metres away, a trio of shadowy figures were on his trail._

_As Zero was an elusive target at best, the less intelligent Purists had found other outlets through which to vent their anger at being thwarted. Suzaku had asked C.C to intervene after the_ Geass _warned him of the potential backlash after the trial._

_C.C. waited until the silent pursuers were almost directly under her perch before descending silently._

_They did not know what hit them. It was the whole point of this exercise. They would wake up with sore heads and little memory of how they had been rendered unconscious._

_Yanagi Takehito would never know that he had barely escaped with his life that night._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_It was not as though she could not cope with the tasks so politely requested of her. The witch had learned a great many things in her long and eventful life. She had done worse for her past accomplices before._

 _It irked her that she went along with them so easily though. It was easy to blame it on his_ Geass _\--she suspected that it was doing certain things that even she could not sense._

_But it did not perturb her very much. If there was one thing she was good at, it was going with the flow._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 15th, 2017 a.t.b._

_Physiotherapy and another medical exam had cleared him for active duty again. The doctor had said that he was lucky, but he could take a few more days of medical leave if he wanted. He declined, knowing that if he stayed any longer, Lelouch would kill him for saddling him with C.C., or C.C. would think up something intensely embarrassing to torture him with. It was enough to galvanise him into action._

_He had read the operation manuals during the long hours of bed rest, redoubled his training schedule and got back into shape so that he could go for Earl--“just call me Lloyd”--Asplund’s tests and do a trial run. Free of doctors and physiotherapists, he was finally discharged from the hospital that morning._

_Another visit to Lloyd’s laboratory-cum-workshop followed and it was past noon when he finally had time for himself._

_Not very much time for leisure, actually. There was a witch he was supposed to take out for pizza in the evening--the beginning of a great many instalments of payment via pizza. He had to face the terrifying reality of cheese-filled high-calorie dinners and do additional reps for it--_

_“Look out below!”_

_A girl had leapt out from a fifth-floor window--and she was plummeting his way._

_Suzaku automatically braced himself for the impact of catching her. She was not heavy, but the acceleration of her fall temporarily knocked the wind out of both of them. She was shorter than he was, he noticed as he set her back on her feet. A teenager with a girlish face and womanly curves--he put her around the same age as he was._

_Whatever possessed her to jump out of a window that high up? Suzaku noticed the rope made of twisted curtains hanging out of the window a moment later._

_“I’m so sorry, but I’m trying to escape from some people who are chasing me. Can you help me?” she asked when she got her breath back._

_Suzaku knew at once that she was lying. He saw the lines around her and realised in that instance that if he followed this path he would get so close that the power of the_ Geass _would be eclipsed by what she would eventually mean to him._

_Blinded by the light._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_“So who was the girl this afternoon?” C.C. asked after swallowing a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni. Comfortably ensconced on the red vinyl seat of the booth they were sitting in, she was contentedly making her way through her fourth slice._

_“Were you stalking me?” Suzaku knew that C.C. was not the clingy type, but she kept an eye on her investments._

_“If I had to hang around anal-retentive boy-wonder for a moment longer, I would have killed him and you would not take me out for pizza,” C.C. said, helping herself to another slice. “I saw you . . . when you took her to the ghetto.”_

_“She said her name was Euphie.”_

_“Clever boy--you know she wasn’t telling you the whole truth.”_

_He had suspected as much when she had lied about her escape. After realising what the building she had jumped from, he had a vague idea. “Do you know who she is?”_

_“I’ll leave you find out.” The witch looked mildly amused. “Order the pasta if you’re not going to eat the pizza.”_

_“You never give the easy answers,” he complained._

_“You need more surprises in your life.”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *


	15. Science/My Life As A Teenaged Terrorist

_November 3rd, 2022 a.t.b._

Brunch had been a hasty affair as there was still the matter of Nina’s distressing package. Nunnally was exploring the Palace with Sayoko in attendance and Euphemia had volunteered to sit in on the briefing.

In one of the conference rooms that had been just swept for bugs, Nina’s purloined CPUs and schematics had been plugged in, attached to monitors and rolled out on a long table respectively.

Lloyd was ecstatic. Over the moon, in fact. “Nuclear fission!” he had exclaimed as he poured over the schematics. A revolutionary concept that had not been explored fully--until now. Nina’s grandfather had pioneered certain theories decades ago, but there had never been much development until now.

Professor Bolton, after having a chance to clean up and drink several cups of strong coffee, did not look so much like a mad scientist anymore as he puttered around the machines. They had been in such a hurry to leave that they had no other clothing besides the ones they wore on their backs. The stolen plans had taken top priority and they had several close shaves on the way to Cornelia’s fleet anchored in the South Pacific.

More confident now that she was in her own area of expertise, Nina explained that her doctoral thesis research had been on developing nuclear fission using certain enriched elements. Schneizel had been interested in funding the research on Sakuradite and so Nina had been under the mentorship of Professor Bolton for the past two years.

They had managed to develop a protocol for releasing vast amounts of energy from enriched Sakuradite. The direction of their research had taken a sudden turn at that point. It was the creation and mass manufacture of the remotely deployed missiles and its destructive potential that had driven Nina and her mentor to defect after the war.

“Wonderful! This is fantastic!” Lloyd waved his arms excitedly as Nina finished explaining how a supercritical mass of Sakuradite in such a missile could be detonated to produce a thousand kilo-tonne thermonuclear explosion that could wipe out a medium-sized city in a matter of seconds. “The possible applications of nuclear fission are immense--”

“Can we focus on how to stop . . . something like that?” Suzaku asked, already tense from the first hour, where terms like “blast radius” and “hypocentre” had been bandied around along with the estimated death toll.

“For instance, can a warhead be forced to detonate before impact?” Lelouch asked, leaning forwards with a frown on his brow. “The delivery system sounds fairly straightforward.”

Further down the table, Euphemia looked equally unsettled, but she and her brother had been children of the Imperial household and they knew that one did not get up to go hold the Emperor’s hand at times like this, no matter how justified the cause. It would be different, later in private, but for now, they would have to maintain decorum.

“That’s a very good question!” Lloyd declared before launching into another lengthy technical discourse with Professor Bolton with Nina chipping in now and then. Cecile was probably the only one who was sensitive to the mood in the room and she tried to steer the discussion towards actual solutions.

They finally agreed that having more specialists looking into the matter would not hurt. Lloyd had bristled at including Laksharta in the group, but had admitted at last that her contribution would be useful. This was too big and urgent and their rivalry would have to take second place. 

There was a lull in the conversation then, when everyone looked expectantly at Suzaku. But he was staring into space, as though he was looking at something only he could see. 

Euphie stood up before Lelouch could and cleared her throat delicately. “It’s been three hours and I’m sure you must be parched from explaining in so much detail . . . Professor, Nina, Earl Asplund, we should adjourn for a late lunch.”

“As you wish, Madam,” Lloyd said after looking at her thoughtfully and wincing slightly when Cecile kicked him discretely in the shin. He was still partially tuned into the intricacies of the Imperial Court, and he could tell which way the wind was blowing. 

“Ah--of course,” Nina said hastily. “But we shouldn’t impo--”

“You did the right thing. We’re very grateful,” Euphie said, going over to her and giving her arm a gentle squeeze. With the all attention of the others on her, no-one saw Lelouch nudge Suzaku out of his daze and whisper into his ear.

As Nina blushed and stammered like the school-girl she used to be, Euphie guided her through the door. “Now won’t you all join us? His Majesty would like your presence at the table.”

Said Emperor was now on his feet and echoing her request. Euphie would cover for any of Suzaku’s potential lapses at lunch, Lelouch knew. Trailing behind, he produced his mobile and dialled a number.

“Kallen? Can you get me Ougi and whoever is in charge of the armed forces at the moment? Toudou? I see . . . Laksharta will be conferencing with Lloyd soon. All right, put me through to her now please.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 15th, 2017 a.t.b._

_“Thank you for the meal,” C.C. said in Japanese when the pan was empty. They were in no danger of being overheard in the corner booth they were in. She burped genteelly behind her hand. “We’ll try the seafood pizza next time. Though I don’t know about clams and squid on pizza . . .”_

_“Now you said you’ll tell me about what happened to you,” Suzaku said, leaning over the slightly greasy table-top._

_“What? After dinner?” C.C. asked. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll throw up?”_

_“Now,” he insisted, not about to be put off again._

_“Whatever,” C.C. muttered and touched the palm of his hand. “You asked for it--”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_It had all boiled down to timing. She had stayed just a minute too long that day at the barracks._

_Her entrance and exit depending on precise timing so that she could slip out during the lull between the manned patrols at the perimeter. The primitive security had been her undoing in the end._

_The soldiers had opened fire upon seeing her crossing the perimeter. As this was a restricted area and they did not need to give warning before shooting. There had been a brief spurt of gunfire, bullets striking with enough force to swing her around as they peppered her body._

_Blackness--her old friend--came again as death overcame her. Perhaps they had taken away her body for disposal and discovered that she was still breathing or that her heart had resumed pumping. Whatever the case, she had been discovered._

_When she came to, when her body had repaired all the neutral networks that told her that she was alive, she was in a sterile white room under harsh glaring lights. There were men in white coats around her, jabbering excitedly._

_Scientists._

_There had always been a risk of discovery. In the past, they had thought her a witch or a demon. They did not believe in witches now, but they were curious to dissect everything. She knew they would find it difficult to quantify this power in terms of their easily-explainable science. It was not something that their measurements and technology could comprehend._

_It did not mean that they would not try. Humans were nothing but persistent._

_Day after day of the same sterile rooms and endless testing. Blood tests, cell samples and genetic sequencing apparently revealed fascinating things about her DNA. They found her brain waves to be of interest and measured them while she was awake, when she was asleep and once when they gave her a deliberate overdose to kill her so that they could observe her revival._

_After that, they became more daring and some of their tests started resembling the torments of the past. Until the day her Code activated while they had been carrying her back to the holding cell._

_They had not been able to revive those two men afterwards. But they had been interested in provoking another event like that. They had been unsuccessful until the day they had to transfer her from their secret laboratory to another place._

_The witch had not cared either way. Wherever they took her, it would be the same._

_All she knew was that it was a curse and it was in effect even now._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_He was glad that C.C. had warned him from seeing this in the hospital. If the IV needle was still in his arm, he would have torn it out. Skin still crawling with the memory of too many needles and too many invasive things done in the name of human curiosity, he looked up at the witch blearily._

_“That . . . that was awful,” Suzaku croaked, feeling the garlic bread and soup churning in his stomach._

_“Don’t get all angsty on me,” C.C. said. “The Inquisition could have showed them a thing or two about making people uncomfortable. The food was boring, but it’s not worth quibbling about small things like that.”_

_Levering himself upright, he glared at her across the table. “It’s not a small thing. People shouldn’t do that to other people.”_

_“But that’s what people do,” C.C. said with a shrug. “They’ve been doing it longer than I’ve been alive.”_

_And she had been alive for a very long time. Suzaku had tried not look at the other memories, but he had seen certain things that had frightened him badly when he had been younger. They frightened him still now._

_“It doesn’t make it right.”_

_“So you want to change the world?” Her amber-gold eyes challenged him from across the table. “Then what will you do to achieve it? Will you finally use it and live by your own decisions from now on?”_

_She did not need to specify what it was._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_June 18th, 2017 a.t.b._

_The tide had turned. Again._

_It had been going so well despite the startling beginning when Zero had told them baldly that the Britannians had them surrounded and they could either fight with him or die. The Black Knights were about to win a battle. An actual win._

_And then their forces had been routed. The reports were garbled and cut-off but there was a new kind of KMF out there, wrecking havoc and unravelling Zero’s bold stratagems._

_“R-5 here! On the western ridge. Britannian reinforcements are on the way!”_

_“Zero! You heard R-5,” Ougi said. On the field, it was codenames only. The objective of the plan had been to capture the Governor as Cornelia li Britannia was more of a hands-on kind of leader and could be found in the thick of the action._

_There was a slight pause over the comm before Zero replied. “Retreat is the only option now. Relay the message to the flank guard and have them cover our retreat. I’ll get the others to withdraw.”_

_As far as piloting skills went, Zero was about average. Maybe less in a skirmish. He was better off planning their moves in the background, but he had been adamant about being on site for the battle._

_“P-3? Come in! P-2?” Ougi resisted the urge to swear. That meant that the south side was compromised. Maybe even the eastern perimeter was gone. At the rate they were going . . ._

_“Kallen--get him out!” Casting caution to the wind, Ougi abandoned the codenames as more of the symbols representing their own people blinked out on the tactical screen._

_“Roger that!” She knew what to do and if anyone could get Zero out, it would be her. “Watch yourself, Ougi.”_

_“We’ll rendezvous back at the appointed place.” If they got out of this alive . . ._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_July 9th, 2017 a.t.b._

_“Good work, Suzaku. That’s all for today.” Cecile’s voice over the communicator was warm with encouragement._

_Behind the controls of the Lancelot, Suzaku did a final systems check before powering down and disengaging the ignition key. Taking a deep breath, he popped open the cockpit and swung down on the pilot’s line._

_“These sync ratios are fantastic! Ninety-five percent with a point six percent deviation across all the tests!” Lloyd yelled excitedly as he gestured at the readout screen. Cecile smiled tolerantly--she would not hit Lloyd when Suzaku was looking directly at them--and suggested that he could get changed._

_Suzaku did so and signed out as soon as he could to avoid Cecile’s tea-time snacks. He ate her_ onigiri _to be polite, but no power in the world could make him like caramel-mocha-redbean paste in a riceball._

_Speaking of food, he had to take C.C. out for pizza again. She would tease him about his fancy new position and the promotion that the new Governor had granted him, but it was better than the things that the Britannian soldiers said._

_He had not been that surprised to see her standing behind her sister, Cornelia li Britannia, during the inauguration. C.C. would have said that he should read the newsfeeds more often._

_Euphemia li Britannia smiled at him apologetically as the royal party completed the ceremonial inspection of the troops. He tried to maintain a straight face until the point when the summons had come from the Governor. The rumours had really started flying then._

_An Eleven had been singled out for promotion out of the blue. There was something about a special project . . . And the less savoury tales that were bandied around._

_It was a load of rubbish anyway. He had hardly met with the Princess personally since his promotion and the Governor had barely acknowledged his presence--her mistrust of Numbers was well-known. His status as a KMF pilot was still a classified secret in the military._

_The mystery of the white KMF was not as hot a topic as the identity of Zero, masked vigilante and declared enemy of Britannian rule. The chat-rooms and internet websites were full of speculation and theories._

_Suzaku knew he had issues to resolve. He only wished that he could find the will to go forwards with it._

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_July 12th, 2017 a.t.b._

_“That’s it for this batch, then?”_

_They had been screening applications in shifts--even Lelouch had been roped into it. Recruitment had been on the rise. The Black Knights were the largest and most well-organised resistance cells in the region, not to mention popular, thanks to Zero and their campaign of bringing drug dealers and corrupt Britannians to justice. But events had accelerated when Cornelia tried to flush Zero out at both Saitama and Narita._

_Behind his prescription-less glasses, Lelouch Lamperouge was a slightly bookish hacker-type on the lower rungs of the organisation. He was one of the few Britannians allowed into the organisation to the rest of the Black Knights and it was not surprising that most of them steered clear of him. If not for Zero’s policy of non-discrimination on the grounds of race, he would have been viewed with even deeper suspicion than usual._

_“These are the ones we rejected because they don’t fit the profile--”_

_“Wait, let me see those,” Lelouch said, reaching out for the folders._

_“They’re a bit young,” Ougi said. “Only sixteen and seventeen years old--er--”_

_“No offense taken,” Lelouch murmured, leafing through the dossiers. “Tanamura Reika . . . Murata Akihito . . . orphaned? No, they have younger siblings and at least one parent . . .”_

_“They have families that need them,” Ougi explained. “Nor do they have any of the skills we need.”_

_“We might have other places for them to fill in,” Lelouch said, looking up. “There is still the matter of getting people into the Honorary Britannian programme.”_

_That had been the other plan--the long term one at any rate. Their manpower shortage and the issue of their logistics meant that they needed more resources and people in the right places. Meaning in the Britannian settlement._

_“So you think they’ll fit the bill?” They had been trying to get their people into strategic positions, but so far, only Lelouch and Kallen could enter the main settlement at will and even their movements were limited to the civilian areas._

_“They are young, adaptable and likely to be looking for a better life. It would not look suspicious if they enrolled in the programme.” Lelouch flexed his fingers and made a few more notes. “Ask them if they are willing to go undercover for a while.”_

_“They probably will,” Ougi predicted. “They were . . . keen.”_

_“They’ll do better with proper schooling and better nutrition,” Lelouch said, referring to the appalling conditions that most of the ghetto-dwellers lived in. “We might even have to persuade them to rebel later on.”_

_“Maybe not.” Ougi knew that the teenagers would be more than just a little flattered that Zero had asked them to fulfil an important mission. But it was not going to be easy--not with the way Honorary Britannians were treated now. There was the issue of their youth, but they were not going to be KMF pilots in a sortie against the Britannian army. Ougi could get behind the idea of sending the younger ones to be Honorary Britannians even though some of the others did not. It would be his job to convince the other members that there was some merit in that idea._

_“Any more potentials?”_

_“That’s the last of them . . . There’s the issue of the new prototype seen at Narita.”_

_“Aa--it could prove to be problematic. We may have to advance our specs to keep up. I have informed Laksharta.” The Indian scientist was a competent and competitive devicer, but her loyalties ultimately lay with her own people. Just as long as Zero could help India gain their eventual independence from the Chinese, she would be on their side. “What was the total damage?”_

_“No lives lost--thank goodness for that. But it’s kind of odd, isn’t it? That KMF disabled all our machines but all the pilots got out alive. It was as though it could strike at exactly the right place without damaging the ejection mechanisms . . . But that’s just impossible, isn’t it? No machine or pilot could be that precise,” Ougi mused. “And no Britannian would be that considerate . . .”_

_“No Britannian would . . .” Lelouch had spoken aloud, brow furrowed in intense thought._

_“Do you know something about that new KMF?” Ougi asked, watching his face carefully._

_“I suspect something,” Lelouch said at last. “I will need to confirm it.”_

__

* * * * * * * * * * * *

_July 14th, 2017 a.t.b._

What’s the total damage? 

_Shirley . . . Her father._

_If that had been the only problem Lelouch had to contend with in his covert war against Britannia . . ._

No Britannian would be that considerate . . .

_It had not been a Britannian pilot, Lelouch knew this instinctively. The KMF in question had not been part of the regular army. Cornelia did not trust non-Britannians to guard her back in a fray--though she might be forced to concede this time. And Lelouch knew only one person who was soft-hearted enough to spare the enemy and had the physical ability to do it._

_If only he had the time to find Suzaku and . . . well, he would get the answer out of him, somehow. In between maintaining his image as a shiftless student and pretending not to be Zero while being Zero with the Black Knights, he was well up to his eyebrows in work._

_Lelouch had expected it, but it had taken a while to get used to it. Being a terrorist was hard work and if it had not been the summer vacation period, he would have been swamped by the initial influx of duties, tasks, plans and occasionally running for his life. To top it all off, Milly had called for a series of meetings during the holidays to plan for the term ahead. Coping with the President’s outlandish schemes was actually harder than coordinating raids on secret weapons caches. Doing both at once was like juggling fish and chainsaws._

_Case in point on the day when he had endured a meeting on the annual student-body dance in the afternoon, coupled with a planned operation in the evening with the Black Knights. It was probably Milly’s way of distracting Shirley._

_“So it’s all arranged,” Lelouch murmured as he leaned over to collect his notebook from the desk._

_“Right. Six-thirty tonight. Meet me at the gate,” Kallen replied as she shuffled together a stack of notes for filing._

_“Eh? You’re going out on a date?” On the other side of the desk, Shirley jerked back in shock. Before her father’s death, she might have flailed and made an almighty racket, but now she only looked sad as she backed away. “Oh . . . well, you have a n-nice time!”_

_Kallen looked frantic and flustered as she watched Shirley retreat out of the Student Council Room. She looked like she had half the mind to chase after the girl. “Lelouch! What the hell? You know she’s soppy on you. She’s going to get the wrong idea--”_

_“It’s better if she does,” he said, cutting off her tirade abruptly. “She doesn’t need to get hurt again.”_

_Seeing the look on his face, Kallen closed her mouth. She had not attended Mr. Fenette’s funeral. “Maybe you’re right,” she said after a long pause. “But I don’t want it to be known that we’re going out.”_

_“So you’d rather it be known that you’re a wanted terrorist and I’m Zero? That ‘going out’ means something other than dinner and a movie?”_

_“You know what I mean . . . Aaah, at least my step-mother will get off my back about acting like a normal girl,” Kallen sighed._

_Seven o’clock found them at the docks in their school uniforms with their communicators switched to the private channel the Blacks Knights were using that evening._

_“This is as distasteful to me as it is to you,” Lelouch stated when they ducked into the shadowed cul-de-sac between two warehouses._

_“Right, you don’t need to tell me that. Just make it look more convincing than the last time, okay?” Kallen rolled her eyes and undid the first two buttons of her blouse._

_Lelouch did not waste time protesting his acting skills. When the security guard swung around the corner, he was just in time to catch them in the middle of a pseudo-passionate snog._

_“This is a restricted section!”_

_“Oh! We’re sorry!” Kallen exclaimed, swinging around in affected surprise. “We didn’t know! Really!”_

_When his eyes were drawn to Kallen’s unbuttoned blouse and the contents thereof, Lelouch’s hand was pressing the small handheld reader against the key-card dangling from the guard’s belt._

_“Hey! What’s going on back there?” Another guard had poked his head around the corner._

_“They’re just students messing around,” the first security guard said over his shoulder._

_“So sorry for the trouble,” Kallen said, trying to do up her blouse and causing both guards to unwittingly focus their attentions on her._

_“Won’t happen again, sir,” Lelouch added, dragging Kallen away._

_They ran off like the skittish students they were pretending to be and met up with Ougi and the others in the battered van that served as a temporary base. “Temporary” was the word for it. Everyone was complaining about having to change into uniform in the back of the van in shifts._

_“This is the fifth raid we’re doing this month. It’s a miracle we managed to squeeze in any Student Council work,” Kallen said, pulling on her uniform jacket. “Much less the vacation homework we had to do.”_

_“What? Maths homework?” Lelouch asked, his back turned in an attempt to make the best of a sad situation as they got changed. “Literature reading assignment, history essay--”_

_“Well I did mine. I have to catch up or catch hell for all those missed days,” Kallen replied, buckling on her boots. “Sorry--just bitching in general.”_

_“Tell you what, let me copy your maths homework and I’ll include nicking a new van in the schedule. Make it a truck.”_

_“Quit being lazy--you can do your own maths homework and nick a new truck in your sleep. This wouldn’t happen to be a truck-nicking operation, is it?” Kallen asked in jest._

_“No,” Lelouch said, pulling the now-distinctive mask over his head. “Our intel says it’s an illegal racket involving arms-smuggling and drugs. Refrain, by the look of it. All right, one last briefing . . .”_

* * * * * * * * * * * *


End file.
